Review: Angry Orchard “The Muse” Cider
Summertime is cider time, at least that’s what I hear. The latest addition to Angry Orchard’s apple-based specialty cider lineup — called the Cider House Collection — is The Muse, a semi-sweet concoction that’s been aged “on French oak staves” and is sold, Champange style, in a 750ml corked bottle. This cider pours with gentle effervescence and…
Review: Jim Beam Signature Craft Harvest Bourbon Collection – Soft Red Wheat and Rolled Oat
Discontent to let Buffalo Trace have all the fun with experimental whiskeys, Jim Beam has been hard at work with its annual Signature Craft releases to show how little changes can have a big impact on a finished spirit. Now it’s pushing boundaries even further, with a series of six Bourbons called the Harvest Bourbon…
Review: Jim Beam Signature Craft Quarter Cask Finished Small Batch Bourbon 2014
For the third installment (and second annual release) of Jim Beam’s Signature Craft series (find reviews of the first limited annual release and the permanent member of the series here), the company is offering a curious concoction. While it’s called “Quarter Cask Finished,” that’s a little misleading. The whiskey is actually a blend of standard…
Review: 2011 Brancaia Tre Rosso Toscana IGT
Here’s a very simple wine, one of the most gentle Italian reds I’ve ever encountered. This blend of Sangiovese (80%), Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon is named for both the three varietals and the three vineyards it is sourced from. The nose nods at both cherries and milk chocolate, but the body is pure fruit. Almost…
Review: Talisker 27 Years Old Limited Edition 2013
The final whisky in the 2013 Diageo Special Releases series comes from venerable Talisker on the Isle of Skye. It’s a 1985-distilled spirit aged exclusively in American refill casks, so this whisky’s considerable age should be the main focus here rather than any finishing it encounters. Sure enough: This is classic Talisker, a peaty, green-tinted…
Review: The 50 by 50 Pinot Noir and Rose
Are we not men? We are Pinot! (Sorry.) Devo founding member Gerald Casale is the man behind the new wine label The 50 by 50, which is named for a never-built home that doesn’t exist on a property that’s wedged between the Atlas Peak AVA and Wild Horse AVA in Napa County. (How very Devo,…
Review: The Singleton of Dufftown 28 Years Old Limited Edition 2013
Whisky #8 in the Diageo Special Releases series is an installment from The Singleton line, this one from Dufftown. (There have been many whiskies in “The Singleton” line, but only Dufftown is current.) This old fogey is from an actually operational still in Speyside, aged completely in American oak for its 28 years. (It was distilled…
Review: Sierra Nevada Beer Camp West Coast Double IPA (Unreleased)
Who likes beer fests? Sierra Nevada’s got a huge one coming up this summer, a seven-city traveling beer festival that’s called Beer Camp Across America and which will feature more than 700 total breweries in total. As an “invitation” to the festival, we received this 24 oz. monster bottle of Sierra’s Beer Camp West Coast Double IPA. You can’t buy…
