Rated C
Reviews of spirits, wine, and beer (and various errata like mixers and garnishes) comprise more than 80% of the content at Drinkhacker. At the C level, products are considered common and lackluster at best. These products are almost never recommended, as better alternatives abound. On a five-star scale, these products would score 2 stars. On the traditional 100-point scale popular with many wine and spirits graders, these products would merit scores of 72 to 74 points.
Riunite is one of those names that has existed long enough to become cultural furniture: familiar, faintly nostalgic, and impossible to dismiss, even if it has spent years making the case that “approachable” can also mean “just pour another glass and stop talking.” Building its international ascendancy largely around Lambrusco, it helped turn a once-regional…
The Loire Valley‘s Vouvray region is synonymous with chenin blanc, which is virtually the only grape grown here. The grape is classically used to make very dry and crisp wines, but as we’ll see in this roundup of six expressions, it’s a versatile grape that can find a home in various styles of sparkling wine…
Laelia is a new tequila brand entering the U.S. market. No celebrities here: It’s 100% Mexican owned and operated. At present, the portfolio consists of a blanco and a reposado, both produced through “traditional brick oven slow cooking, then distilled in 100% copper pot stills after a Tahona extraction.” We tasted both of them. Thoughts follow.…
Little Saints is a non-alcoholic spirit and RTD producer with a particular focus on functional mushrooms as a key ingredient. Both lion’s mane and reishi mushrooms appear in the products, which use monkfruit extract for sweetener, keeping calore counts extremely low. The two spirits are available in 750ml bottles ($50) or smaller flasks ($40 for…
2025 saw the arrival of a new bourbon brand, Whiskey Row — named after the part of Louisville’s Main Street which was a hub for bourbon shipping until Prohibition. (Today, it’s become ground zero for whiskey brands from all over the place (not just Kentucky) to set up tasting rooms.) Whiskey Row Bourbon doesn’t just…
Beckett’s is a new brand of non-alcoholic spirits and RTD offerings, with a fairly vast collection of products available out of the gate. There’s not a whole lot of information about how these products are produced — and in truth none of them seem to go out of their way to recreate the bite and…
We’re headed back to the well — the dry well, ahem — with a fresh look at three new offerings from Lyre’s, which is arguably the leader in non-alcoholic spirits. Two are full-bottle spirit surrogates, while the third is in a category of its own. Read on for the details. Lyre’s White Cane Spirit Review So……
San Antonio Winery’s San Simeon label is a budget brand that features fruit from most of central California. Today we look at five recent bottlings from the label. Let’s dive in. 2022 San Simeon Cabernet Sauvignon Paso Robles – This cabernet has a surprising depth, with an intense punch of currants backed up by dark…
Highlands 41 — part of the San Antonio Winery empire — is a Monterey County operation named for Highway 41 and the nearby Creston Highlands. All wines are designed to be very budget friendly, though it seems that there’s only so far you can go on that front while keeping quality high. Note that the…
Philters is a new brand of NA spirits — full, 750ml bottles — launched by Maya Tea, known for its functional beverages. The four faux spirits of Philters include a non-alc version of gin, rum, whiskey, and mezcal — all created with additional adaptogens and nootropics such as L-Theanine and Cognizin Citicoline. Additional ingredients include glycerin,…