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.
Typical liqueurs may be bottom shelf at your local liquor store, but this stuff, this is the real deal. Thatcher’s is distilled in rural Michigan, using organic ingredients and even organic fruit juice for appropriate coloring. These liqueurs are in very limited distribution right now, but pester your local booze merchant, because they’re worth checking…
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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…
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Limoncello is a lovely and simple liqueur that is made from lemon rind and sugar and steeped in alcohol. Served chilled, it can be a bracing way to start the afternoon or end the evening, and it’s an essential ingredient in any number of cocktail recipes. But it seems you can make a ‘cello out…
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Arguably the oldest spirit-making region in France, Armagnac is Cognac’s bigger, sometimes crueler brother. Armagnac is located just a bit south of the Cognac region in western France, and like Cognac, it is the home — and the only home — of a distilled spirit that bears its name. Like cognac (the spirit), armagnac brandy…
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What an idea: Chill a wine shortly after fermentation begins and then filter and bottle it right there: You’re left with a quite sweet proto-wine (because most of the sugar in the grapes remains in the juice) with a low level of alcohol. In the case of Electra, which is the juice of orange muscat…
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One last look at tequila before this year’s Cinco de Mayo fades into the history books. This one a new brand in the States, Tierras. Staking its claim as the first USDA Organic tequila available in the U.S. — although 4 Copas is also organic, it’s not USDA certified to that effect — Tierras comes…
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We’ve gone through flavored vodka and flavored rum. Now you can start adding flavored tequilas — hitting the market in earnest now — to the mix. Unlike, say, Agave Loco, Centenario’s Rosangel is a much more subtle product. The only similarity is the original base spirit: Reposado tequila, rested for two months (in Port barrels…
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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…
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Can an $8 bottle of Hiram Walker Triple Sec really go toe to toe with the gold standard of curacao, Cointreau? Hiram thinks it can, and sent a bottle of its budget orange liqueur to taste side by side with Cointreau, which at $35 is more than four times the price. In a nutshell: Yeah,…
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Available only in duty-free shops (if that any more), this, like the aforereviewed Glenfarclas 105 is “100” only in the old 175-proof-is-max scale: By modern standards it’s 114.2 proof, so take appropriate precautions should you find yourself face to face with a bottle. It’s certainly worth the hunt. This surprisingly dark whisky packs lots of…
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