Review: Green Flash Road Warrior Imperial Rye IPA
Let’s not mince words: This brewery may have a cult following, but Green Flash Brewing Company’s logo and labels are decidedly uninviting to the point where they look like they could be marketing a cleaning product. And this is the new label. Pay no attention to what’s on the label. San Diego-based Green Flash’s just-released…
Review: Crown Royal Monarch 75th Anniversary Blend
Crown Royal is one of the most popular whiskeys on the planet, and for deserved reason. It’s a straightforward, balanced, and dare-I-say-smooth spirit. It mixes well, and it’s an easy straight sipper. Who doesn’t like Crown? Crown Royal’s history dates back to 1939, when a Canadian entrepreneur crafted a local whisky for the then-royal couple, King…
Review: Tattle Tea Tea & Wine Infusion Kit
Tea drinkers and wine drinkers can finally come together, thanks to Tattle Tea’s straightforwardly named Tea & Wine Infusion Kit. In case there’s any mystery: You’re infusing the wine with tea. Tattle Tea provides the bags of tea (premeasured to work with a single bottle of wine), you provide the wine. You can get the…
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…
