Monthly Archives: September 2009

Review: Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

Caramel is a tricky flavor to begin with: Basically it’s burnt sugar, and that carries with it all kinds of challenges. Godiva makes a pretty good caramel/chocolate liqueur, but Van Gogh raises the stakes with a naturally-flavored vodka that’s straight up caramel, and 70 proof to boot, leaving much less room for flavoring agents.

This flavored spirit is a winner all around, imbued with lots of authentic caramel character that instantly sends you into a Halloween flashback. That said, Van Gogh Dutch Caramel is not exactly complex. It tastes of sweet caramel, not too sugary but with plenty of sweetness, and the finish is quick and shockingly clean, with no bitter or medicinal vodka notes to interfere with the flavored portion of the drink. What a great option to use as a basis for a dessert cocktail, rather than spiking a bunch of liqueurs with neutral vodka, just start with this flavored version and you’re one step ahead on your recipe.

A / $29 / vangoghvodka.com

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Posted in Flavored Vodka, Rated A, Reviews, Vodka

Review: Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2009 Edition

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

Hey, who doesn’t like a birthday? The bourbon gurus at Old Forester like it enough that every year they celebrate by releasing a new, special-edition bourbon to celebrate the birthday of their founder (September 2), something they’ve done every year since 2002.

For this 8th edition of the Birthday Bourbon, Old Forester offers a whiskey with 12 years of age on it, bottled at 97 proof (because, they say, it was distilled in 1997 (in fact, on a single day in 1997) — these guys are serious about their numerology).

As for the bourbon, this deep amber spirit is hot and smoky, a monstrous bourbon that demands a touch of water to become approachable. It’s tricky to get that splash just right, though: Too much water and this 2009 Edition BB becomes just a puddle of smoke. Get the blend right and you’ll get its candied fruits, tree sap, and light vanilla notes. But no matter what: Smoke. This is a Scotch drinker’s bourbon if ever there was one.

The bottle is both a conversation piece and wholly unwieldy. Cute, though.

B+ / $40 / oldforester.com

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Posted in Bourbon, Rated B+, Reviews, Whiskey

Pabst Blue Ribbon Sales up 25% in 2009 (Prices, Too)

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

The hipster backlash has begun!

Per Advertising Age:

For starters, PBR isn’t that cheap any more. The brand hiked prices this year, and a case of PBR now costs $1.50 more than MillerCoors’ Keystone, $1 more than Anheuser-Busch’s Busch and Natural brands, and 50 cents more than Miller High Life.

And it’s growing at a faster clip than all of the aforementioned brands — all of which are growing this year — despite the higher price.

…

Think of it as conspicuous downscale consumption, or something like it.

“There’s still a bit of hipness to it,” said Benj Steinman, editor of Beer Marketer’s Insights. “Of all the subpremiums, it’s got a little more cache.”

“It’s an anti-establishment badge,” added a major market wholesaler. “It seems to play to the retro, nonconformist crowd pretty well.”

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Posted in Beer

Tasting Report: Olson Ogden 2007 Wine Lineup

Posted on September 20, 2009 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

Our friends at Olson Ogden were kind enough to send their full lineup of 2007 wines for our review now that they’re on the cusp of actually being released. I’ve tried four of the five at wine events previously and found that in most cases I found the wines had improved after a few months in bottle. My favorite of the winery’s syrahs remains the Unti Vineyard bottling, a big and powerful syrah that should stand several years of cellar time if you’d like.

But an even bigger surprise was the Russian River Valley pinot noir. I have always preferred Olson Ogden’s syrahs to its pinots, but this pinot is now showing just about perfectly. Great wines all around — get ‘em while they last! Full ratings and comments follow.

olsonogdenwines.com

2007 Olson Ogden Wines

2007 Olson Ogden Wines Sonoma and Napa Syrah / A- / straightforward, ready now (old rating: B+)

2007 Olson Ogden Wines Unti Vineyard Syrah / A- / jammy and vibrant (old rating: A)

2007 Olson Ogden Wines Stagecoach Vineyard Syrah / B+ / richer but showing more tannin (old rating: A-)

2007 Olson Ogden Wines Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast / B+ / tannic with a rich raspberry character (no prior rating)

2007 Olson Ogden Wines Pinot Noir Russian River Valley / A / velvety with solid fruit character, classic pinot (old rating: B+)

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Posted in Rated A, Rated A-, Rated B+, Reviews, Wine

Review: Yamazaki 1984 Whiskey

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

With just 300 bottles coming to the U.S. this fall, odds are good you are not going to be drinking any of Suntory’s Yamazaki 1984 vintage whiskey — the first vintage-dated whiskey the company has released in the U.S.

And that’s a shame, because based on what is the teeny-tiniest sample of a whiskey I’ve ever received (see photo for evidence; that’s a 50ml bottle next to the little Yamazaki) it’s a very fine whiskey.

Cinnamon notes are prominent on the nose and the body, with a minty finish that really just hints at the wood — Japanese oak — in which it is aged. At 96 proof, it’s surprisingly easygoing and needs no water. Unfortunately a few sips were all I had to explore this whiskey, and it all went away far too quickly to form any more detailed notes.

Still, one thing is evident: This is good stuff. Try it, Mr. Moneybags!

A- / $600 / suntory.com

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Posted in Japanese Whisky, Rated A-, Reviews, Whiskey

Hands-On: Apollo Single-Serving Blender and Grinder

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

Smoothies for one? Who wants to break out the giant blender, then clean up the mess afterwards, just for a single-serve drink?

Enter Tribest’s Apollo AP-200, a pint-size blender with vessels that let you mix drinks or grind solid objects in single-serve doses.

The AP-200 is so simple it doesn’t even have an on-off switch. The unique design works such that it doesn’t need on. To use it, you load up a cup (four are included, two 1-cup sizes and two 2-cup sizes; two blades — one dry, one wet — are also included) with whatever you’d like, then screw a blade attachment on top, which works as a sealed lid. Turn it over and place it on the blender base and as you press down, it activates, causing the blades to spin. When you’re done, just take it off, unscrew the lid, and drink it right out of the cup — unlike standard blenders there’s no blade at the bottom to get in your way.

The unique design of the Apollo takes some getting used to, but as a blender it works fairly well, chopping down fruit and ice with reasonable success. I especially liked how easy it was to clean up — just two pieces to go in the dishwasher when you’re done, and you don’t even need a separate cup to hold your bounty.

Sure, if your regular blender works well you probably don’t need the Apollo, but for singles, small kitchens, or for stowing under your bar for the one-off frozen drink, it’s a hit.

$40 / personalblender.com [BUY IT HERE]

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Posted in Barware, Reviews

Tasting Report: Ravenswood Old Vine Zinfandel 2007 Lineup

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Christopher Null| 7 Comments

Had the chance to sit down with Ravenswood Winery’s founding winemaker Joel Peterson this week and sample his 2007 old vines lineup. The son of a woman who worked on the atomic bomb and a trained immunologist, Joel is full of stories, but most involve his love of wine, for which he developed a taste practically as a child.

Ravenswood — now a major force for zinfandel in the wine business — sells some simple table wines, but it also markets a wide range of single vineyard designates. Only a few are actually 100% zinfandel; most are blends of a variety of grapes, with zin the predominant one. In fact, my favorite wine of the lot was the 2007 Teldeschi, which includes 22% petite sirah and 2% carignane in the blend. Some of the wines — which are grown throughout Sonoma and Napa Counties — have so many grape varietals that Peterson can’t even be sure what’s in the bottle.

It is, however, mostly zin.

Notes follow.

Tasting of (mostly) 2007 Ravenswood Zinfandels

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Barricia / A- / very tannic, but opens up with perfume notes

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Belloni / A- /more fruit, with big currant and jam, tart and acidic

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Big River / B+ /similar to Belloni, with an herbal finish

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Dickerson / B+ /a bit Cab-like, with pepper and oregano notes, lighter finish

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill / B /woodsy, a bit out of balance

2007 Ravenswood Zinfandel Teldeschi / A /tobacco and cedar notes, heavy petite sirah influence, my favorite of the lot

2006 Ravenswood Zinfandel Pickberry / B+ /a touch bitter on the finish, quite tannic

2007 Ravenswood Icon (field blend, not a zinfandel release) / A- /has an edge, nice balance though

1997 Ravenswood Zinfandel Old Hill / A / fascinating old zin, some DNA of the 2007, but oxidized and well aged

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Posted in Reviews, Wine

Review: Jefferson’s Presidential Select 17 Year Old Bourbon

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

Produced in the final years of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville, this high-end bourbon rounds out the Jefferson’s line of Kentucky whiskeys, though supplies will be limited, to say the least. Plus, it’s Jefferson’s Presidential Select, which means it was selected personally by Thomas Jefferson. Right?

This is a big bourbon, fragrant with roasted nut character, wood, vanilla, and cinnamon. Aged 17 long years, these flavors have melded well and coalesced into a deep and complicated spirit, with raisin, sherry, and chocolate notes coming across on the finish. At 94 proof, it decidedly benefits from a touch of water to open things up, though.

Curiously, this is a wheated bourbon — wheat is used as a secondary grain alongside corn instead of rye. The difference is curious — and positive: There’s no spicy character here, and Jefferson’s 17 is smoother than you’d expect, with nice balance. Very much worth seeking out, and not as expensive as you might expect.

A / $90 / mclainandkyne.com

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Posted in Bourbon, Rated A, Reviews, Whiskey

Super-Cheap Winepod on the Way

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

The Winepod gizmo I used to create my own Chateau de Null may no longer be for sale — a victim of the recession that made $4,500 DIY wine urns a tough sell — but former CEO Greg Snell has a new trick up his sleeve: A $500, stripped-down version that might put (easier) home winemaking in the reach of just about everyone:

“The initial idea was to enable anyone to be a winemaker by creating a teaching system with everything necessary to make wine like a professional,” says Snell. Although the miniature version of the Winepod will make smaller quantities of wine and will be made of cheaper materials (no sleek stainless steel this time around) than the original, Snell says the idea is the same — to allow anyone to crush, ferment and age their own grapes in an all-in-one machine. Unlike the pricey Winepod, the new iteration will sell for less than $500.

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Posted in Barware, Wine

Review: 2005 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Alexander Valley

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Christopher Null| 3 Comments

Recent vintages of Silver Oak have not really impressed me, and that’s sad — in the ’90s, Silver Oak was one of the most reliable wines you could buy… and you paid for that reliability, too. But then the ’00s came along and Silver Oak just wasn’t the same. Bummer.

I’m happy to report that with its 2005 Alexander Valley release (100 percent cab), Silver Oak is back in action. This velvety wine is loaded with character, starting with intense cedar and evergreen notes on the nose and big, herbal undertones — rosemary, oregano, and cloves, perhaps. The wine’s structure is tannic — this is 2005, so it’s young — but drinkable. It’s thinner than many “big” cabernets, part of my complaint with recent vintages, but in conjunction with the wine’s herbal/forest notes, this works. It needs a little less body to let those curious components shine through. The finish is light for a cab, reminding one that another sip is soon required.

A- / $70 / silveroak.com