Services/Retailers

Our services and retailers category covers online and offline shops and other sellers of alcohol products. Primarily it consists of reviews of subscription boxes, including by-mail cocktail kits, “spirit of the month clubs,” and various wine clubs.

Review: Wines of 90+ Cellars, Summer 2024 Releases

By Rob Theakston | June 29, 2024 |

The wine world continues its march toward delivery and subscription services at a steady, measured pace. Since our last foray into the enterprise, a few have folded while others made it through the pandemic and other economic challenges with success and growth. 90+ Cellars provides a refreshingly unique angle in a market where surprises and…

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Tasting the Wines of Authentique with Sommsation, 2023 Releases

By Christopher Null | September 30, 2023 |

Sommsation is a wine shop as well as an experience — an online store which doesn’t just sell you the wines you’re drinking but can also guide you through the tasting process if you’re so inclined. While you can fill up your cart with individual bottles, Sommsation — not “Sommstation,” as I often call it…

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Review: Armagnacs of Castarede, 2023 Releases

By Christopher Null | May 22, 2023 |

On a busy street in Paris’s 8th Arrondisement, you’ll find the official headquarters of Armagnac Castarede, the oldest Armagnac producer still operating. At the end of my recent Cognac-focused trip to France, I called up the office on a lark, only to find that proprietor Florence Castarede was actually on site and would readily welcome…

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Review: Malbecs of de Negoce, Fall 2022 Releases

By Rob Theakston | December 16, 2022 |

We receive comments on de Négoce at a steady clip (and feel free to keep them coming). While we aren’t here to play judge and jury over our readers’ uniformly dismal experiences — our original reviews were all based on media samples — I decided to take a spin myself and purchase a few bottles…

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Review: Namazake Paul Sake Advent Calendar 2022

By Christopher Null | November 15, 2022 |

You know whiskey advent calendars and wine advent calendars and beer advent calendars. Now sake gets its due, courtesy of Namazake Paul, perhaps the most noteworthy online seller of sake in the U.S. Namazake Paul’s advent calendar — the only one of its kind — is quite the production, featuring 23 180ml cups of sake…

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Review: Sourced Kraken Rum Haunted Halloween Bundle

By Christopher Null | October 18, 2022 |

Sourced Craft Cocktails just dropped a pair of Halloween-friendly kits, including this bundle, featuring two ready-to-go mixers, a bottle of Kraken rum, and the usual accoutrements (skull-topped picks, coasters, koozies, and the like). The two cocktails include the “Sea Monster Mai Tai,” which is really a straightforward version of the classic, and the “Graveyard Smash,”…

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Visiting Barrow’s Intense Tasting Room, World’s Largest Selection of New York State Spirits

By David Tao | September 22, 2022 |

When Barrow’s Intense Ginger Liqueur opened a new Brooklyn distillery in May 2019, founder Josh Morton was adamant about creating a full bar and tasting room experience for visitors: cocktails, spirits served neat, seasonal specials, and even a full bottle shop. But under New York law, virtually all craft distillers in the state with retail…

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Tasting Scandinavian Whiskies from The Whisky Exchange

By Christopher Null | August 3, 2022 |

One of the best whisky retailers in the world is The Whisky Exchange — and one of the retailer’s best product lines are its “Perfect Measure” sampler sets, which consist of numerous 30ml bottles of whiskies that you will likely have a hard time finding in any format, anywhere. Recently the company sent me a…

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Review: 2022 Garrison Brothers Bourbon Brawl Cocktail Kit

By Christopher Null | July 30, 2022 |

Last month, our friends at Garrison Brothers Distillery launched a cocktail competition to unearth the very best cocktail made using their unique Texas bourbon. The winner was crowned: Albert Pero III from New York. (New York!?), the founder and creator of Spirit for Spirits, “a bartending battle YouTube show that highlights all the amazing things…

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Review: Bevridge American Single Malt Tasting Kit

By Christopher Null | July 21, 2022 |

“One part community, one part content, one part tasting” — here comes another whiskey kit, albeit this one is not being sold as a subscription. Bevridge is a collaboration with Whisky Live, and at present it offers a single kit, a $249 collection of ten 50ml samples of American single malt whiskies. The big sell…

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