Buy It Now
Our Buy It Now category digests wine and spirits which you can purchase directly through one of our affiliates. You’ll find the “buy it now” link after the rating and price of the product.
Happened upon this bottle of Rowan’s Creek Bourbon at my local liquor store and was intrigued by the almost scrawled logo on the label and hand-numbered coding. Some thoughts on what’s inside. At 100.1 proof, it’s a hot whiskey and needs a bit of water to bring out anything other than heavy alcoholic characteristics. With…
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Like 10 Cane, Flor de Cana is a name you see “called” on many a bar menu. I just got my hands on Flor’s 18-year version (which, apparently, is so new it does not yet appear on the company’s website). Some thoughts. The initial nose is, bluntly, heavy with smoke. Smoke to the point where…
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Brandied cherries are essential for a proper Casino, but finding them is surprisingly difficult. The normal variety I use are quite large and though they taste great, they can get mushy, which is hardly the way you want to cap off a quality cocktail. Griottines are smaller, and quite tart. Macerated in Kirsch liqueuer, these…
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I’ll start by saying I’m not entirely clear what the function of a new version of Captain Morgan is. The old version has a pirate on the bottle, comes from Puerto Rico, and comes in at a standard 70 proof. The new one has a pirate on the bottle, comes from Puerto Rico, and hits…
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Another solid contender in the lightly flavored water category: Hint is mild — but distinctly — flavored, all natural and with no sweeteners added. I tried two varieties: Strawberry-Kiwi and Cucumber. 13 flavors are currently available in total. I found both versions very good, though obviously different as night and day. The cucumber version is…
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I never would have thought I’d be recommending a book about wine with the phrase “complete idiot” in the title, but for outright rank beginners, this tome by Tara Q. Thomas is an accessible way to get a bearing on a complicated subject. Primarily broken down by grape varietal (with a few chapters devoted to…
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Every wine enthusiast ends up with drawers full of gadgets designed to enhance the flavor of wine, but a good old decanter is perhaps the best way to take both a tannic young wine or a musty old one and bring out the most pleasant characters of each without a lot of sitting around and…
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I love the concept of the board game Karafe: It’s a lot like the game of Life, where you try to accumulate wealth as you get from start to finish on a long, twisting road, only it’s got a big twist: Rather than go from cradle to grave with a real job, you go from…
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Finally got my mitts on the full line of standard Herradura tequilas (all except the Seleccion Suprema). Here are some thoughts on all three expressions. All are 80 proof. Tequila Herradura Silver (2008) – (original report here) – This blanco has grown on me since I originally reviewed it in April. My overall tasting notes are…
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The only vodka I’ve sampled from the country of Ireland, Boru is named after a legendary Irish king… who probably wouldn’t have been caught dead drinking vodka. No matter. Distilled five times (from unspecified grain), this vodka hits 80 proof in its unflavored and three flavored incarnations (all use natural flavorings). We sampled all four.…
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