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 represents the cream of the crop — excellent products with only minimal flaws. On a five-star scale, these products would score 4.5 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 94 to 97 points.
As fall kicked off this year, KO Distillery in Manassas, Virginia announced the release of two new expressions, both of which are meant to satisfy whiskey-drinkers’ growing love of rye (or so says the press release). First up is Distiller’s Reserve Bottled-in-Bond Rye, the follow on to last year’s Distiller’s Reserve Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon made from 100%…
Read More
Nutrl is a new line of ready-to-drink vodka seltzers flavored with real fruit juice, launched by Anheuser-Busch. There’s nothing particularly unique about the product line, but Nutrl is hoping to win over fans by offering these “unpretentious and uncomplicated,” refreshing, sessionable, low-calorie (100 calories per can), low-alcohol drinks, made with just vodka, seltzer, and real…
Read More
Today we present a collection of Sicilian wines, all part of a (Zoom-based) tasting organized by Assovini Sicilia, an association of 91 Sicilian wineries that is designed to promote the many wines of this region. A total of 10 wines were tasted, all made with indigenous grapes. Ready to dig in? Let’s go. 2020 Mandrarossa…
Read More
It’s been a year since we last encountered Balvenie’s Tun 1509 series, which is now back with its 8th installment — the final bottling in the long-running and impressive collection. This vatting of 18 casks selected by Malt Master David C. Stewart includes, as usual, a mix of various cask types and ages, with the…
Read More
Last month we took some time to review some of the offerings from Cameron Hughes’ OG de Négoce (pronounced “day nuh-go-shay”) fall portfolio. The framework of this extension of the Hughes brand takes a chance on the wine futures market, curating selections from various vineyards at lower prices than those found on actual vineyard labels.…
Read More
The arrival of the latest crop of Merry Edwards wines is always cause for celebration at Drinkhacker HQ, and this season’s collection of wines — a chardonnay and four pinot noirs — is no exception. 2019 is turning out to be a tougher year for pinot noir than initially expected — but the door for…
Read More
Luxardo’s expression of triple sec — formally known as Triplum “triple sec orange” — follows the traditional recipe, using three types of dried citrus peels: “mainly curaçao (a bitter orange of the Dutch Antilles, from the island of that name), together with sweet oranges and mandarins.” The liqueur is double distilled, then additional ingredients are…
Read More
Celebrities turned their attention to whiskey in 2021, which left the tequila world free to explore new products without a bunch of Hollywood types sniffing around. Whew! Innovation is running wild down in Mexico these days, with some really interesting products hitting the scene of late. As we always do around this time of year,…
Read More
Diageo’s Special Releases Single Malt Scotch Whisky Collection for 2021 has arrived. Tagged with the moniker “Legends Untold,” this year’s collection spans 8 whiskies, all single malt (no grain whisky this year), designed to “reach into the realms of augmented reality to share the untold stories of iconic Scotch distilleries in new and unique ways.”…
Read More
Last year, Washington D.C.’s One Eight Distilling released their first ever single barrel under their in-house District Made label, an impressive cask strength rye whiskey. What makes sense for a sequel? You guessed it. A cask strength, single barrel bourbon. This bottle hit the distillery’s gift shop shelves back in September, but the One Eight…
Read More