Review: Hardwood Spiked Seltzer Bitter Citrus
Hardwood Spiked has essentially created a cocktail that inverts the role of ingredients where the bitters are featured front and center and the spirit and fruit are mere accoutrements. These 100 calorie seltzers use a corn whiskey base that “extracts 8 organic botanicals prior to oak barrel aging… balanced with organic maple syrup, though dry…
Review: Westland Outpost Range Garryana 6|1 (2021)
In 2020 we mentioned how Seattle’s Westland is evolving its special edition whiskeys, expanding its Outpost Range to cover (eventually) three different expressions. At the core of these is Garryana, now in its 6th edition, which has long been an exploration of Quercus garryana, the rare oak indigenous to the Pacific Northwest. (The second edition…
Review: 2019 Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
Two new releases from our friends at Sonoma-Cutrer, both Russian River bottlings from the 2019 vintage. 2019 Sonoma-Cutrer The Cutrer Chardonnay Russian River Valley – An aggressive, classically styled California chardonnay, loaded up with barrel-heavy vanilla, coconut, and baked apple notes. A note of sultry guava emerges as the finish approaches, toasted coconut notes lingering…
Review: Baileys Deliciously Light and Baileys Colada
Ready for two new expressions from the cream liqueur masters at Baileys — including it’s first “light” expression? We weren’t either, but we cracked them open all the same. Baileys Deliciously Light – So you want the decadence of Baileys, but not the calories (140 per 1.5-ounce serving, by the way)? You could consider the…
Recipe: Jungle Witch
Here’s another fun cocktail featured in Garden & Gun, by way of Chattanooga’s Unknown Caller. The Jungle Witch is a spin on the Jungle Bird, and while it will require a bit of prep on your end, the end result is worth it. The secret is found in infusing Campari with pineapple, an idea which…
Book Review: Drinks for Every Season
This book is not for professional mixologists, advanced hobbyists, or anyone having basic cocktail skills already under their belt. It’s not for anyone who attends Tales of the Cocktail or needs a trip to specialty markets to pick up some obscure ingredient. What this book does do is provide absolute beginners and novices an opportunity…
Review: The Macallan A Night on Earth in Scotland
Macallan’s A Night on Earth in Scotland isn’t intended (necessarily) for you to buy it and drink it. It’s supposed to be a gift, a celebratory bottling that’s part of a new limited edition gifting series that celebrates the New Year. Elaborately packaged and full of surprises, the bottling is as much fun to open…
Review: OG de Négoce 12 Days of Christmas Holiday Pack 2021
We’ve covered de Négoce (“day nuh-go-shay”) in recent installments: a Fall 2021 overview and recently the 2021 Holiday Party Pack Sampler. This time we look at a 12 Days of Christmas sampler pack: a behemoth dozen bottles of various West Coast wines carefully selected by wine negociant Cameron Hughes. Unlike the Holiday Party Pack Sampler,…
