Rated A-
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker, and the A- rating is used for very good to exceptional products. On a five-star scale, these products would score 4 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 90 to 93 points.
While watching the development of the amazing range of new gins that have been produced in recent years, I have been particularly excited to try ones that closely highlight the specific region from which the botanicals are drawn. How fantastic that Freeland Spirits has released a new gin, its third, made with locally sourced botanicals…
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WhistlePig — the distillery that never met a gimmick too outlandish to turn into a shipping product (including finishing whiskey with David Ortiz’s baseball bats) — has another whopper on tap for drinkers. With this third edition in the PiggyBack Legends Series (following the Ortiz bottling and an edition made with country stars the Brothers…
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Sommsation is a wine shop as well as an experience — an online store which doesn’t just sell you the wines you’re drinking but can also guide you through the tasting process if you’re so inclined. While you can fill up your cart with individual bottles, Sommsation — not “Sommstation,” as I often call it…
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We kicked off our exploration of Smokehead earlier this summer with a look at the flagship offering and its bolder, cask strength sibling. Those bottles are joined in the Smokehead lineup by a trio of unique cask finished expressions (with a fourth, stout-finished offering on the way). Thoughts follow. Smokehead Tequila Cask Terminado – Finished…
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Peaches and lemons come together — in bright, semi-sweet fashion — in this focused but ultimately summer-centric New Zealand-born wine, laying its floral elements bare after the initial rush of sweetness fades. Connotations of lemonade or white sangria aren’t off-base here, though there are touches of fragrance here — green herbs, possibly some mint —…
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Santo Tequila is fronted by Sammy Hagar of Van Halen fame and food show celebrity Guy Fieri. We first tried the brand in 2017, when they released their unusual Mezquila, and just a few months ago we tried Santo’s younger tequila offerings: blanco, reposado, and a bold, flavorful 110 proof blanco. Today we finally finish…
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Wait a second: Bourbon is aged in warehouses, not cellars, right? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that “cellar aged” is really just a marketing term meant to evoke what’s really unique about this expression: It’s a blend of whiskies aged 11 to 12 years, which is a first for Maker’s…
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Talisker‘s 30 year old expression, which first arrived in 2021, is now an annual release. Once again, it’s made from a barely there collection of barrels: 3195 bottles available globally, 561 for the U.S. Fully matured in ex-bourbon barrels, the whisky will be familiar to the few of you who’ve experienced very old Talisker in…
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Non-alcoholic wines continue to improve, and we were interested to taste the new releases from Studio Null — not just because I can get totally behind the name, but because they’re legit wines complete with vintage dating. Let’s give these two Euro-sourced wines a try. 2022 Studio Null Gruner Weiss NA – A (vintage!) blend…
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When Beam Suntory’s Legent hit the scene it immediately became one of my favorite new whiskeys, and I was over the moon excited to hear about the brand’s first extension to the line, a limited-edition whiskey called Legent Yamazaki Cask Finish Blend. While purists groused over whether the original Legent was officially a bourbon due…
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