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.
Much to their credit, the folks at Mighty Swell keep the new additions to the flavor profile ever-changing. This scrappy little Austin upstart continues to carve out their own little space in the ready-to-drink cocktail world. They are back once again with four new flavors for consideration. Each 12-ounce can checks in at 5% abv…
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1800 Tequila markets The Ultimate Margarita, its brand of pre-made, ready-to serve margaritas, as “the #1 premium margarita.” This may be the case, but that perhaps says more about the general quality of bottled/canned margaritas than anything else. Made with “premium tequila, triple sec liqueur, natural flavors and certified colors” and available in six flavors…
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Yamhill, Oregon-based Marshall Davis makes a variety of Oregon-iconic wines, but we’ve only covered its rose in the past. Now we’re digging into more of the lineup, including a new vintage of the rose as well as a chardonnay and pinot noir. 2019 Marshall Davis Chardonnay Yamhill-Carlton AVA – Somehow this wine, which apparently is…
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Cocktails in a box have become such a fast-growing category that you wonder how come it took so long to happen. Wine has been available in boxes for decades and has long done away with the myth that boxed wine has to equal cheap wine. Of course it can be cheap, but it can also…
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I may be one of the few people who remembers High West’s first pair of barrel-aged, bottled cocktails, The Barreled Boulevardier and The 36th Vote, both of which have been off the market for years (and which were apparently only available at the distillery). Now High West is back with a pair of new and…
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France’s Ciroc, which distills its vodka from grapes, recently launched two new flavors. Pineapple is part of the permanent lineup, while White Grape is a “limited edition” flavor — although it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. We tried them both, and our thoughts follow as always. Both are 70 proof. Ciroc White…
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This South African pinot noir, from the Western Cape region, is quite light in color, a character which is immediately at odds with the intense, earthy nose, redolent with barnyard notes — even more so than is typical of South African reds. Black pepper emerges ahead of a lightly balsamic finish, which comes across as…
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Here’s another ultra-sweet offering from Stella Rosa (though it ranks only a 6 out of 10 on the winery’s own sweetness scale), tipping the scales at a whopping 5% abv. As the name implies, honey and peaches are the operating flavors in the mix here, though it’s the peach essence that makes the broadest impact…
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Memphis-based Old Dominick Distillery makes gin, vodka, and other goodies, but it’s arguably best known as the producer of Huling Station, a line of whiskeys that began with bourbon and expanded to wheat whiskey and a blended whiskey earlier this year. Old Dominick sources all of these whiskeys from MGP, but they’re all made in…
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This budget bottling from Paso Robles-based Maddalena is a bruiser of a wine, a monster that is overwhelming with notes of smashed, overripe currants and blackberry jam, sweetened to within an inch of its life with notes of brown sugar and milk chocolate. Utterly overwhelming at times, Maddalena’s cabernet comes across almost like a dessert…
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