Reviews
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker, and here you’ll find the entire Drinkhacker review archive in one place. Products are rated on a letter-grade scale that should be familiar to most, with F as our lowest, “failing” grade and the very rare A+ as our top score.
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Notes on Grading
How to Analyze, Score, and Review Whiskey
This second label of Far Niente will surprise no afficionado of the Napa cabernet style, plump with notes of currants, backed up by cherry cola notes. Silky chocolate notes evoke a wine that might pair better with a cream pie than a filet mignon, though there’s a gently beefy quality that builds with time in…
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Patron’s latest ultra-luxe tequila launch is El Cielo, a silver tequila that stakes its claim that it is “the first four-times distilled prestige tequila on the market.” There’s not much more of a twist on the theme than that, so let’s just dive into the tasting. Slightly yellow in hue, but only faintly. The nose…
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Green River made welcome waves last year in the world of affordable bourbon with the launch of its first eponymous, house-distilled offering, a rye-heavy mashbill, five-year-old bourbon costing all of $35. At Drinkhacker HQ, we were impressed. And apparently, we weren’t the only ones, as Bardstown Bourbon Co. acquired the distillery that summer. For 2023,…
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Ammasso is a curious blend of Nero d’Avola, Nerello Mascalese, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, all grown in Sicily in the vineyards of Vinicoltori Contalto. As hearty as any pure-Nero Sicilian wine you’ve probably encountered, this brooding bruiser takes its time to come into focus, letting dark fruit notes of overripe plum, currants, and dark chocolate…
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Earlier this year, we had the chance to review Balvenie’s new French Oak 16 Years Old aged in Pineaus des Charentes casks. That bottle is actually part of a trifecta of new cask-finished releases launched in the spring of 2022. Two others, a 15-year-old expression finished in Madeira wine casks and an 18-year-old expression finished…
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The tiny Scottish island of Islay counts around 3,000 people as full-time residents but welcomes tens of thousands of tourists annually and counts hundreds of thousands, if not more, fans around the globe swearing regional allegiance. That may prove to be an unsubstantiated hot take in the end, but right now Islay seems to be…
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It seems Jack Daniel’s is capitalizing on momentum after successful releases of their Bonded and Triple Mash whiskeys in 2022, both of which carried bottled-in-bond designations. While on a recent trip to their Lynchburg, Tennessee distillery, company reps told me both releases received better-than-expected responses from consumers and critics alike. Now, the Brown-Forman owned whiskey…
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Our friends at La Maison & Velier have recently launched a new line of whiskies bottled under the Ex Libris banner. The concept is that Ex Libris will showcase whiskies from all of the world, each to be named after a key literary work from its country of origin. First out of the gate is a…
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It is a fun time in the realm of beverage literature. We’ve witnessed a significant shift away from rigid recipe books and academic volumes towards approachable, enlightening works penned by authors deeply devoted to sharing their compelling narratives. Over the past two decades, an abundant collection of relaxed storytelling and entertainment has emerged, covering nearly…
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Perhaps the greatest informal dad holiday of the entire year, Oktoberfest stands as the king of the brewing calendar. Numerous beers styles are common at these events, with the ironically named Märzen the prevailing style and guiding light for offerings from breweries around the globe for this cereal celebration. Festbier and its variants have become…
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