Book Review: Wine: A Tasting Course
USA Today readers rejoice: There’s a book that takes the pedantic prose out of wine and turns it all into colorful infographics. Marnie Old’s Wine: A Tasting Course cues you in from the start, with a cover festooned with cartoony illustrations and questions designed to pique your interest in the category (“Which are the most important…
Review: Cutty Sark Prohibition Edition
Cutty Sark, from Scotland, brings us this upscale bottling in celebration of… Prohibition? An American phenomenon? Bear with us. “Cutty Pro” as it’s being taglined, “salutes the notorious Captain William McCoy, who courageously smuggled Cutty Sark into American speakeasies. McCoy possessed an infamous reputation as a distributor of the highest quality products, always genuine and…
Book Review: Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course
Situated at the top of One World Trade Center, Windows on the World was a restaurant-bar-entertainment venue that was beloved by just about everyone until the tower’s tragic destruction. Its resident cellar master was the equally beloved Kevin Zraly, and for the last 25-plus years he’s been publishing his own book on wine. Actually, it’s…
Review: BenRiach Horizons, Septendecim, Solstice 2ed, and Authenticus
It’s been over 5 years since our last serious look at BenRiach’s distillery bottlings, and things have been afoot. This Speyside distillery has recently launched four new expressions, retiring a few and updating a couple with older versions. Let’s not delay. Thoughts follow. BenRiach Horizons 12 Years Old Triple Distilled – Most Scotch whisky is…
Recipe: Booker’s Bourbon Cocktails
When we approached Beam for a few ideas for mixing Booker’s Bourbon in a cocktail, they were caught off guard. Apparently, no one’s really requested them before. So Beam got together with resident mixologist Bobby G, who hit up a few friends to contribute some ideas. All of these recipes aside, we’re going to side…
Review: Stolen “Coffee & Cigarettes” Spiced Rum
The name alone gives one pause. Does one want to drink cigarettes? If they’re stolen, do they taste better? To clarify things a bit, look to the quotation marks. “Stolen” is the name of the brand. “Coffee & Cigarettes” is the flavor applied. Underneath, it’s spiced rum, making this the first flavored and spiced rum we’ve…
Review: 2012 Flora Springs Barrel Fermented Chardonnay and 2011 Trilogy
More new releases from our friends at Napa Valley’s Flora Springs, including the 2011 vintage of its flagship wine, Trilogy, a Bordeaux style blend. 2012 Flora Springs Barrel Fermented Chardonnay – Initially quite oaky, this barrel-fermented Chardonnay opens up with notes of figs, peaches, vanilla, and creme brulee. Time in glass is the friend of this…
Tasting in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley: Wines of Bella, Truett-Hurst, Preston, 2014 Releases
On the other side of Highway 101, Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley is a sleepy alternative to the bustle of Napa and even of Sonoma proper. Here, there’s little but narrow roads winding through vineyards. No Michelin-starred restaurants out here or even so much as a gas station. If you need a snack, there’s but one…
