Best Value
Some deals are just too good to pass up. Our Best Value category digests that rarest of breeds: Top-rated products at prices that are incredibly appealing. We include products across the board in this section.
Top Best Value Posts:
Top 10 Bourbons Under $20
Wines of Lula Cellars, 2018 Releases
Jim Beam Distiller’s Cut
Practically a next-door neighbor to Drinkhacker HQ, California’s own Hangar One has long been a hometown favorite vodka amongst those ’round these parts who can’t handle whiskey. Available in a straight version and three exotic flavors, we’ve been drinking these for years but finally got around to sampling them all “officially” for the site. Created…
Doña Paula’s 2008 Malbec hails from the Mendoza region of Argentina. Jammy, with a light herbal finish, it’s easy to see why this wine has won so many accolades of late: It’s great with food or by itself, and it lightens up to reveal more red fruit as it aerates. It’s hard to love many…
Donnafugata hails from Sicily, drawing its name from the Italian novel The Leopard, whose estates bore the name of Donnafugata (literally “woman in flight”). Imagery and motifs from The Leopard play a part in virtually every wine that Donnafugata sells, but you can be forgiven for not delving into the backstory as you drink down…
Sobieski is making a name (and a bigger advertising splash) for offering reasonably good Polish, rye-based vodka at an extremely low price, and now it is moving into the natural follow-up: Flavored versions. Here’s how the first two shake out. Both are 70 proof and flavored naturally. Sobieski Cytron Vodka isn’t bad, a quite silky…
This is not Captain Morgan, folks. The Kraken, with its sea creature label and black-as-coffee liquid within, makes a striking impression on the bar and in the glass. The idea is kitschy: A drink as strong and dark as kraken (giant squid) ink, powerful enough to take him down. And, yeah, at 94 proof and…
Best known perhaps for its pinot noirs, Sokol Blosser also makes a variety of white wines. This crisp Oregon pinot gris offers sauvignon blanc-like character, with sharp minerals intermixed with some apple, apricot, and peach characteristics. The finish is simple but delicious, offering hints of fresh, fluffy bread. For 18 bucks, it’s embarassingly hard not…
Pre-mixed, bottled sangria can be a dicey proposition. I mean, is it that hard to make good sangria yourself? Well, yes, yes it is. That’s why you never make it at home, lardo — you’re too lazy. And you’ve got to have lots of fresh fruit handy. And a knife. Screw that and pop open…
That’s a big mouth of a name for a $10 wine, ain’t it? Hugues Beaulieu brings us this picpoul from the Languedoc region of France, an area best known for its reds but with also, it turns out, the potential to turn out a surprisingly tasty white. I’d never had picpoul de pinet before (seriously,…
It looks like cachaca is continuing its rise, and now even mass market spiriters Seagram’s is getting into the mix. Seagram’s (yeah, the gin guys!) new line of Brazilian rum doesn’t say cachaca on the label (and doesn’t offer a whole lot of information about what they’re created from or where, aside from “Brazil”), and…
Cinco de Mayo is just two days away, and that means it’s tequila time. Here’s a new one that just launched in April. Gran Centenario already makes a full line of tequilas, including a reposado, but recently the company expanded with a new brand called Azul. The big draw: At $16 a bottle, it’s about…