Monthly Archives: July 2011

Review: New Holland Hatter Royale Hopquila

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

Tequila for rabbits? No. New Holland, based not in Holland the country but rather Holland the city in Michigan, takes a double-distilled mash of 100% malted barley, then steeps Centennial hops in it. It’s not aged, but it comes out a Chardonnay-yellow from the hops

Hopquila, then, is not a funky tequila but rather a flavored white whiskey. Good thing you read the label, bub.

The aroma is skunky and hot: earthy and full of white whiskey character, big grain notes like those of new make spirit. On the palate, things are a bit different. The hops come across as surprisingly sweet — much like you get with a sweeter-style, light-bodied beer. Hoppy? Not exactly, but there’s a certain herbal funk in the mix that gives it a flavor unlike anything else I’ve ever reviewed. The finish is closer to honey than sugar, with an odd and difficult-to-peg edge to it.

Hopquila is like one of those oddball spirits that someone created on a dare — and that someone seems to have gotten lucky with this one. Hopquila isn’t something I’d drink every day, but on a full moon when the stars are just right, well, just maybe…

80 proof.

B+ / $35 / newhollandbrew.com

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Posted in Rated B+, Reviews, Whiskey, White Whiskey

Review: Kavalan Single Malt Taiwanese Whisky

Posted on July 30, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Believe it or not, this is our second Taiwanese whisky review on Drinkhacker (read about Golden Pure Malt here), but I dare to say you have a better shot of actually finding Kavalan on sale somewhere (especially if you shop duty-free).

A single malt whisky distilled by an outfit called the King Car Distillery and bottled at an indeterminate age, Kavalan is easy on the nose and reminiscent of a solid Speyside single malt, with vanilla, nougat, honey, and fresh bread/malt notes. The body: More of that, moderate on the palate, and easy on the finish. Maybe a little hot.

While totally easydrinking, Kavalan isn’t exactly inspired. There aren’t a lot of secondary characteristics here, just straightforward Scotch-like, rumbling maltiness. It’s hard not to like.

Think I’m crazy? Kavalan is already making some waves, having beat a number of Scotch whiskys in a blind taste test. This is the entry level version; various additional bottlings exist.

Note: Caramel color is added. 80 proof.

A- / price unknown / kavalanwhisky.com

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Posted in Rated A-, Reviews, Whiskey

Review: Metaxa Greek Spirit 5 Stars and 7 Stars

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Christopher Null| 2 Comments

And you may ask yourself: What exactly is Metaxa anyway? A staple of every liquor store in the country, it sits there untouched in its odd-shaped bottle. The stalwart shopper who picks it up finds only that it hails from Greece before setting it back down. The only hint on the bottle: “Greek Specialty Liqueur.”

Metaxa is a Greek spirit dating back to 1888 and is, as the company promises, “completely different” from any other brown spirit. Greek Savatiano, Sultaniana, and Black Corinth grapes are dried in the sun and fermented to produce a sort of wine. The wine is distilled twice and put into Limousin oak barrels to rest. So far, it’s basically brandy. But at the end of the process, Metaxa is blended with Greek Muscat wine plus an infusion of botanicals, including rose petals. The mixture is left to age again for at least half a year.

As with brandy, there are numerous ages of Metaxa available, from three years to 30. It doesn’t indicate this on the label — typically indicating a number of “stars” instead — but those stars do correspond to the number of years the initial brandy is kept in cask. The reserve bottlings offer a little more info (and higher price tags) as they get older and older.

Metaxa sent us the 5 Star and 7 Star bottlings — leaving the entry-level 3 Star behind — for us to kick the tires on. Just remember, if you’re in Greece, no matter what, it beats drinking ouzo.

Metaxa Greek Spirit 5 Stars – The nose is indescribable, a mix of perfume and brandy that is indeed unlike anything else I’ve ever consumed. The rose petals are distinct, but they are balanced by modest vanilla, citrus peel, and lemon notes. The body is on the thin side — this is a 78 proof spirit — which leaves plenty of room for those rose petals to come on strong again on the finish. Fun for one glass. Then your palate is ready for something else. B- / $20

Metaxa Greek Spirit 7 Stars – Still flowery, but more complex, with cinnamon and coffee notes on the front of the palate. A lot closer to straight brandy than Metaxa 5, and the roses take a bit of a back seat to the burlier, vanilla-laced body. Much more enjoyable as a sipper, and worth the few extra bucks. 80 proof. B / $23

metaxa.com

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Posted in Brandy, Rated B, Rated B-, Reviews, Wine

Book Review: The Quotable Drunkard

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

For some reason, I get a kick out of reading quotations, and I expect I’m not alone, explaining why so many books of quotes are on the market. Steven Kates turns to a natural topic – the bottle – for this themed book of musings, and for the most part it’s a solid one.

Split into chapters of natural topics, Kates takes on beer, wine, alcoholism, hangovers, and more, with special sections devoted to quotes about drinking from various books and movies. Historical figures are also amply represented in the text, as is the Bible.

Now maybe I’m old fashioned, but I do believe that no book about drinking, however frivolous, should ever quote Dharma & Greg. And it definitely should not do so three times. Sure enough, these quotes aren’t even remotely amusing, and if Kates’ book ever suffers, it’s in his editing: As if he simply punted and did a few IMDB searches for “rum,” “wine,” and “drinking” and just copy-and-pasted everything that turned up into his manuscript.

But hey, compiling quotes probably isn’t as easy as it sounds, and by and large Kates does good work here. You may even learn a thing or two courtesy of the drinking fun facts interspersed throughout the tome.

Until next time, remember, “I used to think drinking was the only way to be happy. Now I know there is no way to be happy.” (Laura Kightlinger)

A- / $10 / [BUY IT HERE]

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Posted in Books, Rated A-, Reviews

Review: Simply Naked Wines

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Wine and wood go hand in hand, but Simply Naked’s experiment takes the oak out of the equation. All of these wines are fermented and aged in stainless steel. For some of these wines, like Pinot Grigio, that’s normal. Chardonnay: OK. But Merlot and Cabernet? Interesting experiments.

Here’s how the wines — all budget bottlings from a melange of California fruit — stack up.

2010 Simply Naked Unoaked Pinot Grigio California – Lively and fresh, as Pinot Grigio really has to be. Lemon (or lemongrass) notes, surprisingly fruit-forward, lightly honeyed body, and short finish. As good as any bottle of Santa Margherita. B+

2010 Simply Naked Unoaked Chardonnay California – Honey and lemon notes here, with a moderately big body. A little big funky on the finish, with almonds, nougat, and other odd characters not typical of your average Chardonnay. B

2010 Simply Naked Unoaked Merlot California – Wow, not at all what I wanted. This is a young, astringent, and ultra-sweet wine that, rather than letting the fruit shine, plays down its natural strengths. Sharp and unflattering. D

2010 Simply Naked Unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon California – About the same, quality-wise. Musty and biting, with funky plum/prune-jam, vegemite, and yeast notes. No. D-

about $8 each / cwinesus.com

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Posted in Rated B, Rated B+, Rated D/F, Reviews, Wine

Review: Bloom Gin

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Christopher Null| 6 Comments

Bloom is a real enigma: Born from the distiller of one of the world’s first London Dry gins — parent company Greenall’s celebrates its 250th anniversary this year and is the producer of Bombay and Bombay Sapphire for Bacardi — Bloom is a brand new gin with a modern twist. It is designed for women, by a woman.

Joanne Moore is the world’s only female master gin distiller, and after 15 years working her way up the ranks at Greenall’s, she’s finally been given her own empty bottle to fill.

It should have happened a lot sooner, because Bloom — female-focused or not — is one of the best gins on the market today.

Bloom is part tradition, part newfangled innovation, and Moore took me through a private tasting of the spirit, the seven ingredients that make up its infusion, each paired with a single-ingredient distillate, which show how different (or similar) an infusion can taste vs. the aromatic that goes into it.

Bloom is distilled from English wheat, and the infusions start with Tuscan juniper, Moroccan coriander, and angelica — all traditional gin flavoring agents. She then goes wild, adding Indonesian cubebs (a member of the pepper family), chamomile flowers, honeysuckle, and Chinese pomelo (part of the grapefruit family). The final spirit is bottled at 80 proof.

Results: Amazing. Bloom had been previously described to me as “floral,” but unlike, say, Nolet’s, which is full of perfumy rose petals, Bloom is floral only in the sense of standing in a rain-soaked meadow full of wildflowers. Honeysuckle and chamomile are not heavy aromas, and they do not overpower the rest of the aromatics here. In fact, it’s citrus that comes on the strongest — driven by that pomelo and possibly the fruitier characters in the two floral ingredients. But best of all is how perfectly these seven ingredients all come together: Bloom is balanced, smooth, and easy to sip straight, even at room temperature. Call me a girl if you want: I love this gin.

Bloom officially launches today in San Francisco only, then spreads across California and beyond.

A / about $40 / bloomgin.com

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Posted in Gin, Rated A, Reviews

Review: Spring44 Vodka and Gin

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Spring44 (aka Spring 44) is a new line of vodka and gin out of Colorado. All are distilled five times from a multi-grain blend of wheat, rye, and corn (much like whiskey), filtered through a coconut husk filtration system, and blended with water from a 9,000-foot-high source.

We checked out all three of the distillery’s initial offerings. All are 80 proof.

Spring44 Vodka – I like this spirit a lot. A bracing nose offers light medicinal notes, and the body has astringency to spare. It is however balanced by just a touch of sweetness, giving it an interesting character while still living squarely in the realm of traditional vodka style. Spring44 isn’t a complicated vodka — it wears its medicinal character on its sleeve — but it is authentic and expressive. It’s a wonderful balance of old world and new. A-

Spring44 Honey Vodka – Kind of an odd choice for your first and only flavored vodka, but Spring44 obviously has a jones for honey flavor that it couldn’t ignore. Compared the the relatively restrained flavors of the straight vodka, the Honey version is huge and overwhelming. A light yellow hue indicates that plenty of honey goes into this blend, and while it isn’t immediately evident on the nose, it’s awfully big on the tongue. This honey notes here are earthy and, as is often the case with honey vodkas, on the funky side — not quite honey but not quite vodka, either. Where it lives is an odd middle ground between tradition and fun, and unlike the straight vodka, it doesn’t work as well. B

Spring44 Gin – Spring44 uses 12 botanicals (including many Colorado natives) in this formula and does not reveal them. The character is also not entirely balanced, heavy on fruit flavors (I presume berries of various ilk are in the mix), with juniper coming up behind. Again, this just doesn’t work together the right way, both sweet and bitter but not in the way you might expect. The finish is off: A lingering flavor of berries left to macerate too long — a bit like an Eastern bloc fruit brandy — and not so much a gin. B-

about $22 each / spring44.com

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Posted in Flavored Vodka, Gin, Rated A-, Rated B, Rated B-, Reviews, Vodka

Book Review: Exploring Wine

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Every wine drinker needs one (and only one) book like this: A magnificent, encyclopedia-sized tome that tells you everything you can possibly want to know about wine in a single book. Or tries to, anyway.

As such a subject is basically unmasterable, the goal with a mega-book like this is to be as comprehensive as possible while leaving out the obtuse junk that no one cares about.

My current bookshelf pick, Andre Domine’s Wine, does a good job of this, highlighting every region you could care to investigate, mapping them intricately, and highlighting the best producers in each.

Now comes Exploring Wine‘s third edition, from Steven Kolpan, Brian H. Smith, and Michael A. Weiss, in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America. It’s a 791-page monster, and yet it feels slight. Various regions and wine styles get a mere paragraph or two in Exploring Wine. Even big areas, like the French Languedoc region, get less than two pages total, not much more than California’s Livermore Valley is granted. It’s strange and inconsistent, to say the least.

Exploring Wine doesn’t dwell much on specific wines or producers, aiming instead for more of a global look at the wine trade (even China and India get some ink), how the wine business works, and, for about a third of the book, discussing how wine pairs with food (not surprising considering the CIA’s involvement in the book). Interesting stuff if you’re trying to open a restaurant and train your teenage staff on how to sell wine, I guess, but it’s not right for a consumer. The front of the book is just too vague, and the back end is too industry-specific. Sorry, guys, I’m sticking with Wine for now.

C / $39 / [BUY IT HERE]

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Posted in Books, Rated C, Reviews, Wine

Review: Craft Distillers Mezcalero Release #2 San Baltazar Guelavila

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

First a primer on how most mezcal makes it into the U.S.: Some American gets on a plane and road-trips through Oaxaca, Mexico, tasting his way through artisan distilleries until he finds something he loves. That American then becomes an importer, and in the case of really good mezcal, sometimes only a few hundred bottles make it into the States.

Craft Distillers did just that with Mezcalero, now in its second edition, and available initially with less than 200 bottles allocated to our country, all in California. The company has just 60 bottle left on hand, so if this sounds at all interesting to you, now’s the time to act before it’s all gone.

Distilled from the wild tobala, wild tepeztate, and domestic espadin agave varieties by the San Baltazar Guelavila distillery, Mezcalero #2 makes no bones that it’s going to be intensely fiery and smoky. Where many modern mezcals rest of their smoldering smoothness, Mezcalero is a torrid heat-bomb. Smoke is overwhelming on the nose and on the tongue. Great mezcal can have lots of interesting secondary character, but aside from notes associated with the grill — black pepper, onions, maybe a touch of brown sugar on the very end — this one is lacking. The body lacks weight and there’s just no balance to the BBQ character. This is wholly drinkable, especially with water, but I’d hoped for more.

96.4 proof.

B / $84 / caddellwilliams.com

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Posted in Mezcal, Rated B, Reviews

Review: Germain-Robin Apple Brandy

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Christopher Null| Leave a comment

Not your father’s Applejack, Germain-Robin’s artisanal apple brandy is not cloyingly sweet but rather a fruit-tinged brandy, just as good fruit brandy should be. Dry and smooth, the nose offers vanilla and light chocolate notes, and really little more than a hint of apples. That’s right: The apple orchard takes a back seat to the smooth and traditional brandy notes, rich and a little raisiny, even with a little orange on the finish. Lively, easygoing, and borderline delicious, apple brandy rarely reaches anything approaching this good.

80 proof.

A- / $62 / germain-robin.com