Featured
Featured posts represent reviews and other stories which we think will resonate particularly with readers, including especially topical stories (such as recipes themed to a particular holiday) or popular products just hitting the market. It’s important to note that the Featured category does not represent our top-rated products. You’ll find those on the sidebar to your right and in periodic features like our holiday buying guides.
The George Strait-owned Tequila Codigo is back with two new expressions, a “rosa” reposado rested for 3 months in uncharred Napa Valley Cabernet French White Oak wine barrels (then finished in sherry casks), and a mezcal. Let’s give them both a try. Tequila Codigo 1530 Rosa Reposado George Strait Edition – The light pink color…
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Fuji is a storied distillery that earns its name for a distinctly relevant reason: It’s the closest distillery to Japan’s Mt. Fuji, mere miles away from the base of the iconic peak. Fuji Single Grain Whiskey is a blend of three different grain whiskeys produced at the distillery. Per the distillery, “those different grain whiskeys…
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Blue Run‘s second release of the year is another contract-distilled product with Jim Rutledge as “liquid advisor” on the project. Blue Run “Reflection I” Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a small-batch whiskey which Rutledge distilled at Castle & Key Distillery in 2018. Just 200 carefully selected barrels were chosen for this bottling, each toasted to a…
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The seventh editions of Bardstown Bourbon Co.’s Fusion and Discovery Series have hit the shelves. While the concept behind the two hasn’t changed, this latest pair of releases does appear to mark a new level of complexity and uniqueness, at least in their basic construction. The blending wizards at Bardstown Bourbon Co. have rarely combined…
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Well, pilgrim. You thought John Wayne would be satisfied with just a bourbon bottled in his name? Well guess what, now The Duke has lent his signature to tequila, which is available in three (unexpected) expressions, reposado, anejo, and extra anejo. No blanco here, folks. John Wayne only consumes oak-aged spirits, it seems. A slight…
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The latest tequila distillery to jump on the cristalino craze is Avion, which formally drops this into its oversized Reserva Range. Avion’s Cristalino is a blend of añejo and extra añejo tequilas that is then double charcoal filtered to clear. Let’s give it a whirl. Initially, the nose is decidedly on the green side, with…
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Tequila Don Julio Primavera is a special edition of the distillery’s reposado, finished in casks which previously held wine infused with macerated orange peels, “striking the balance of citrus and honey.” It’s a unique approach to tequila, but does a special wine cask (and a funky, rounded-base bottle) merit a $150 price tag? (One whose signature…
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Light whiskey is having a mild renaissance of late, including this latest from Penelope, which was distilled from corn by Seagrams Indiana in 2008; aging was completed in second fill oak barrels for 13 years. Thoughts follow, along with a look at the latest Barrel Strength Batch from the company, batch #8, and a…
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After Stoli Group took over, Kentucky Owl Rye became the more affordable (but still pricey) offering from this cult Kentucky brand. If you lived anywhere but the Bluegrass State (where even the bourbon was exceptionally scarce), it was the only Kentucky Owl product you had much of a chance at finding. We reviewed a few…
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Ardbeg Day 2022 is upon us, and as always the chaps in Islay have a special release in store for Ardbeg Committee members. Ardcore is a celebration of all things punk, made with roasted black malt that is “incinerated to hair-raising levels.” It’s the first usage of black malt by the distillery, which Friend of…
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