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.
My first challenge in this review is not how to describe what saké2me tastes like. It’s how to categorize it in this blog. saké2me is a blend of sake, natural flavors, and sparkling water. It comes in ready-to-drink bottles 187ml in size and weighs in at a beer-like 7% alcohol, comparable to malt liquor-based beverages…
Jameson isn’t the only name in Irish. With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, let’s share the love with Bushmills, the other major name in Irish whiskey, which is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. Bushmills — aka Bushmills Original — has a very typical Irish flavor: The honey of Scotch and but without…
If you aren’t familiar with Russian Standard‘s Imperia vodka (its highest-end of three bottlings) due to its ubiquitous print advertising, you won’t miss the angular, hexagon-bottomed bottle at the liquor store. It looks like something that ought to have been erected on the outskirts of Moscow during the Yeltsin years, a stark monument to drowned…
The world’s first “eco luxury vodka,” 360 Vodka is bottled at 80 proof in 85% recycled glass, labeled with chlorine-free paper, and even uses a twine string to attach a postage-paid envelope to the top of the bottle: You use it to return the metal closure on top of the bottle (like a Grolsch beer…
Inspired, so they say, by the cafe scene of 1920s Paris (it says so write on the bottle: “1920’s Paris”), the folks behind Alizé bring us this curious liqueur, a blend, again so they say, of coffee, vodka, cream, and vanilla. Sounds like four great tastes that go great together! Café Bohême muscles into a…
Açai (pronounced ah-SAH-eee) is the superfood of the moment, so it was only a matter of time before it became a spirit. VeeV is the only açai spirit on the market, but there’s more to it than that. Not quite a vodka and not quite a liqueur, VeeV is a 60-proof spirit that’s clear and…
I have seen the future, and the future is Kröl. Distilled from Polish rye (in, um, Poland), Kröl isn’t exactly the sexiest name in spirits, but it’s a solid product that vodka lovers will want to check out. Kröl comes in two forms (for now). I tried them both. First up is straight Kröl Vodka,…
What the heck is bison grass? It’s grass that, well, bison eat, at least in Poland. And what’s good for the buffalo is also curiously delicious for vodka fans: Zubrówka (pronounced zoo-BROV-ka), also known as bison grass vodka, is now being reintroduced to America after 30 years of being banned, much like Absinthe, due to…
Regularly marketed as ultra-luxe and advertised as besting every major brand in vodka tastings, Pravda is a Polish spirit, distilled five times from rye and bottled at 80 proof. It shares a lot of the characteristics of other rye vodkas, but Pravda is smoother than most and bears a stronger citrus flavor up front that…
Few liquor brands are as heralded as Jack Daniel’s, but it’s never been a favorite of mine. Too harsh for sipping and lacking character even in a Coke, Jack has just not been a big winner for me. And not for lack of trying. You can’t go to a bar or a party without being…