Rated B+
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker, and the B+ rating is used for solid products that we don’t exactly love, but which we still heartily recommend. On a five-star scale, these products would score 3.5 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 87 to 89 points.
Tomorrow (August 16) is National Rum Day, so what better way to celebrate than to sip a little Mount Gay, the first commercially produced rum (per the company), continually produced since 1637 (though the bottles say 1703). They even say George Washington drank this stuff on a stopover in Barbados (my favorite island, by the…
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Leblon was the first cachaça I ever tried and it remains a perfectly acceptable introduction to the beauty of the spirit. The company was kind enough to send a fresh bottle, and it remains as charming a cachaça as ever. You won’t miss that gigantic green bottle on the shelf (it barely fits in my…
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When the Wall Street Journal’s Eric Felten named Tommy Bahama white rum his favorite of some 10 rums in a blind tasting, I figured I had to try it. The company was kind enough to send both of its rums, light and dark, to be put to the test. Both are bottled in Barbados (not,…
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The first thing you’ll notice about this blanco tequila is the distinct yellow tone it has. That’s not a tint on the Deco-styled bottle, that’s the spirit. But aren’t blanco tequilas supposed to be totally clear? Surprise: Gran Centenario lets its blanco/plata mellow for 28 days in oak barrels before going into bottle. It’s not…
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Got a chance to try Sammy Hagar’s Mexican brainchild: Cabo Wabo, at least its reposado version, thanks to a bottle courtesy of the company. Reposado is historically my least favorite of the three tequila varieties, so I went in automatically disappointed, but came away reasonably impressed. Cabo Wabo’s Reposado (aged from 3 to 12 months…
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Mata Hari absinthe is an Austrian spirit, distilled (per the bottle) from the original Belle Epoque recipe from 1881. Of course, the actual Mata Hari would have been just 5 years old at the time the recipe was created, so we’ll assume the recipe came first, the name came later. Made with Grand Wormwood and…
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Honey- and whiskey-based liqueuers are nothing new. Drambuie, of course, is the classic by which others are measured. There’s also another honey+Scotch spirit called Lochan Ora, and one from Macallan called Amber (which is actually flavored with maple syrup instead of honey). American Honey is the first American version of this spirit that I’ve seen:…
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The four Cognacs reviewed below represent $1,150 worth of booze (in 750ml bottle formats)… and compared to the latest entry in Delamain’s collection, that’s pretty much nothing. Delamain’s latest — Le Voyage — costs $7,000 a bottle, which includes a Baccarat decanter and leather “traveling box.” I haven’t tried Le Voyage (that’s on tap, I’m…
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This new kid on the U.S. market arrived on our shores only a month ago: La Fée Absinthe Parisienne was the first absinthe to be commercially produced (starting in 1998) since the country’s ban of the spirit in 1915. Absinthe purists will appreciate its grand wormwood base, but the bright green color (yep, that’s the…
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With its squat bottle reminiscent of those they sell iced tea in and an almost gaudy black-and-gold label (yeah, that’s a golden potato instead of an O), Karlsson’s Gold Vodka won’t be easily missed in a sea of etched-label, oversized bottles of the stuff. But Karlsson’s isn’t bottom-shelf swill. Created by Börje Karlsson, the “Father…
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