Monthly Archives: August 2010

Review: Calisaya Liqueur

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

A bittersweet amaro-style liqueur, Calisaya is made in an Italian style, but not in Italy — rather, in Cottage Grove, Oregon.

Not nearly as dark as most amaros, Calisaya is a deep orange, in keeping with its orange-inflected flavor. But the base of Calisaya is not distinctly orange but rather cinchona bark, a tree which offers bitter, quinine-type compounds and hails from Peru. Various other (unnamed) botanicals, sugar, and water are added to the blend, offering this 70 proof final product.

The flavor is intense, with sweet orange candies and serious bitterness playing together, with a thick, syrupy body that coats the throat. Secondary notes include brewed tea, almonds, and fruitcake/gingerbread characteristics.

All sounds interesting, and if Calisaya clung together a little better it would be a more pleasant product. It isn’t bad, but this concoction is frankly much too syrupy and unbalanced, its bitter flavors knocking out the sweet and spicy without much fuss. I’ll take Fernet over this any day.

Reviewed: Lot 93, from production year 2010. Not to be confused with Calisay, a Spanish liqueur.

B- / $NA / calisaya.net

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Posted in Liqueurs, Rated B, Reviews

Review: McAfee’s Benchmark Old No. 8 Brand Bourbon Whiskey

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Christopher Null| 27 Comments

Benchmark Old No. 8 (from our friends at Buffalo Trace) has been winning awards right and left of late — and it’s easy to see why. At about $14 a bottle, it offers outstanding quality for a pittance.

Benchmark, made with a fair amount of rye, has a deep amber color, and the nose is sweet, with lots of citrus. The body is medium in texture, offering huge caramel notes, a hint of chocolate, cinnamon, and some orange. The traditional rye spiciness is played down, but there’s a good amount of heat on the finish; the whiskey is a standard 80 proof but feels hotter than that.

For the money, though, man, this is one to stock up on.

A- / $14 / bourbonwhiskey.com

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Posted in Bourbon, Rated A-, Reviews, Whiskey

Tasting Report: Ministry of Rum Festival 2010

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Christopher Null| 12 Comments

With the popularity (and quality) of rum rising, the Ministry of Rum continues its mission of exposing the world to great rums and rum cocktails. Recently I had the opportunity to sample numerous hard-to-find, new, and very old rums at the Ministry’s event in Alameda. Ratings and some brief thoughts on everything tasted follow.

Bear in mind notes are based on only a couple of sips and should not be considered on par with our usual canonical, full reviews.

Ministry of Rum Festival – San Francisco Bay Area – August 2010

Cruzan Blackstrap Rum / A- / extremely intense molasses character; easy to see why this is so beloved

Cruzan 9 Spiced Rum / B- / funky finish

Cruzan Aged Dark Rum / B+

Cruzan Single Barrel Rum / B+ / tough woodsy finish

Don Q Anejo Rum / B / good cocktail rum choice

Don Q Gran Anejo Rum / B+

Bacardi Solera 1893 Rum / C / off, rubber character

Bacardi 8 Rum / B- / better, but quite green

Diplomatico Reserva Rum / B / on the harsh side

Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva Rum / A / rich and lush, night and day vs. the standard Reserva, a special rum

El Dorado 5 Year Old Cask Aged Demerara Rum / A- / long finish, great value, nice herbs and flowers character

El Dorado 12 Year Old Special Reserve Demerara Rum / A / sweeter but not overly complex; lovely

Flor de Cana Grand Reserve 7 Year Old Rum / B+ / oaky

Santa Teresa 1796 Rum / A+ / a Venezuelan rarity, amazing rich caramel notes, gorgeous and hard to put down; perfect

Smith & Cross Rum / B- / overproof, tough and green

The Scarlet Ibis Rum / B- / hard edged

Black Tot Rum / ??? / this ultra-rarity, an old “discovered” rum that sells for $1,000 a bottle, was served in half-an-eyedropper portions so absurdly small I couldn’t taste much of anything except alcohol… a pity!

Coeur de Rhum La Favorite Vieux / A-

Duquesne Eleve Sous Bois Rum / B+

Neisson Eleve Sous Bois Rhum / B+ / herbal, quite strong (100 proof)

Neisson Reserve Speciale Rhum / A- / easier and sweeter, better balance

Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum / B / so clove-heavy it burned my eyes

Zacapa XO Rum / A- / intense, sweet tea notes; more tart than other XO rums here

Many thanks to Barrie Lynn of The Cheese Impresario for extending the invitation and pairing cheeses with the rums on offer!

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Posted in Reviews, Rum

Review: Landy VSOP Cognac

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

Despite the Snoop Dogg endorsement (or, perhaps, because of it), the VSOP expression of Landy’s cognac is pretty pedestrian stuff. Harshly earthly and woody on the nose, it tastes strongly of apple with a finish that veers toward bitter. The finish is on the hard side, a reminder that this cognac is awfully young. (The company makes 7 expressions; this is its second youngest bottling.)

B- / $35 / cognaclandy.com

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Posted in Brandy, Cognac, Rated B-, Reviews

Review: Bacardi Torched Cherry Flavored Rum

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

The problem with cherry flavored spirits, of course, is the cough syrup connection. Cherry flavoring is so endemic in over-the-counter throat and lung remedies that most drinkers immediately want to climb back in bed once a cherry liquor hits their lips.

Bacardi bypasses that problem with its new cherry rum by “torching” it — now, they don’t burn the cherry, but to Barbados cherry essence the company adds “torched plant aloe” to the mix.

The result is a somewhat smoother spin on cherry, balanced by a sort of smoky creaminess that comes on after a big and bright cherry opening.

Yes, drink too much in one gulp and you’re in Robitussinland, but in a land of non-credible cherry rums and vodkas, Bacardi’s experiment is at least as good as anything else out there.

70 proof.

B / $15 / bacardi.com

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Posted in Flavored Rum, Rated B, Reviews, Rum

Tasting Report: Wines of Madonna Estate

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Madonna Estate is very centrally located between Sonoma and Napa — it’s one of those wineries you pass by a thousand times when you’re driving through the wine country, but you never stop there.

I finally did on a recent drive in the area and tasted their wines, the vast majority of which are grown with estate fruit and are reasonably priced.

Madonna Estate Wines

2009 Madonna Estate Pinot Grigio / $27 / B / tough, bitter edge, organic

2008 Madonna Estate Chardonnay / $27 / C+

2007 Madonna Estate Pinot Noir / $30 / B / oaky on the finish

2006 Madonna Estate Barbera / $35 / B+ / smoky and tannic

2007 Madonna Estate Dolcetto / $35 / B- / huge and robust

2005 Madonna Estate Cabernet Sauvignon / $32 / A- / smoother, with some pepper notes

2004 Madonna Estate Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Reserve / $50 / A- / really big, very different than the estate Cab; a cellaring wine

2009 Madonna Estate Gewurztraminer / $20 / B

2009 Madonna Estate Muscat Canelli / $23 / B+

madonnaestate.com

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Posted in Reviews, Travel, Wine

Review: Riazul Tequila

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

This new line of tequilas comes from the Jalisco Highlands — said to be harvested from land held by a single family for more than 200 years — and is imported into and distributed from Houston, Texas. All three expressions are of course 100 percent agave and 80 proof.

Riazul Silver Tequila – This blanco has a very fresh and bright character, slightly sweet, with a silky texture and bright, unadultered agave. Very curious on the finish, Riazul’s Silver brings forward a distinct mocha coffee flavor, one that lingers and invites further exploration. A / $45

Riazul Reposado Tequila – Though aged a long 9 months in both American and French oak, Riazul’s Reposado is surprisingly light in color. The flavor is not unlike the blanco, but the agave is smoother, with more caramel and bigger chocolate notes. That said, this tequila feels somewhat out of balance compared to the blanco, which is all too common with reposados. B+ / $55

Riazul Anejo Tequila – My immediate reaction: This tequila is bizarre. Aged two years, I was expecting rich wood, chocolate, and coffee notes. Instead, Riazul’s anejo offers a baffling attack of lime fruit, then a long caramel body. Highly rated, I found this the least balanced of all the tequilas on offer, a near-crazy mix of citrus and candy sweetness that — separated — might both be great. Together it’s all over the map. Unique, to a fault, but perhaps Riazul needs to ria-think its wood strategy. B / $60

riazul.com

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Posted in Rated A, Rated B, Rated B+, Reviews, Tequila

Review: Reál Sangria White Sangria

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Most of us know red sangria — with fruit a-bobbing in the pitcher — all too well.

Reál Sangria is now offering a pre-mixed white sangria, a relatively obscure spin on the classic, which uses white wine instead of red to achieve a lighter, fruitier taste.

This white sangria is relatively simple, but quite refreshing. The picture on the label really tells the story: Reál Sangria White tastes like white wine, fresh grape juice, and a heavy splash of orange. The fruit salad approach of many other sangrias is absent here; instead you get a brisk and moderately sweet concoction (alcohol level is strangely noted on the label as “7% to 10%”) that works well with food (serve over ice) and goes down without much fuss. Not much complexity, to be sure, but with burgers and chips, maybe you don’t need it.

Imported from Spain.

B+ / $7 / real-sangria.com

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Posted in Rated B+, Reviews, Wine

Review: New Germain-Robin Brandies

Posted on August 1, 2010 by Christopher Null| 1 Comment

These Germain-Robin brandies — crafted in California — showed up unannounced, in minimally-marked sample vials, with no additional information about their manufacture or sale. [UPDATE: Notes have been found, and info below has been updated. These are new products.]

They are reviewed here without further knowledge — I’m unclear whether the first brandy is the same as Germain-Robin’s long-running XO, and have no additional information on when these brandies may be available, or at what prices (though neither tastes particularly expensive).

Alcohol levels are both 80 proof.

Germain-Robin Craft-Method Brandy – Rocky, with an Armagnac character to it. Earth and olive characters are strong, with muted fruit below. Seems to lack life, with little more than a big, boozy alcohol character. Opens up with time in the glass, at least a bit. This is a revised blend of the company’s Fine brandy, composed of Colombard, Riesling, and Zinfandel brandies, most five years old, with some 10-year brandy in it. C / $48

Germain-Robin Coast Road Reserve Brandy – Has more character to it at least, with better sweetness and more bracing fruit — candied oranges and a touch of chocolate character. Still roughly made, but considerably more enticing with some rather intriguing raw sugar character in the finish. Composed of old Pinot Noir, Colombard, Grenache, and Ehrenfelser (a Riesling-Sylvaner cross), with eaux up to 15 years old. B / $72

germain-robin.com

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Posted in Brandy, Rated B, Rated C, Reviews