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.
We’ve covered de Négoce (“day nuh-go-shay”) in recent installments: a Fall 2021 overview and recently the 2021 Holiday Party Pack Sampler. This time we look at a 12 Days of Christmas sampler pack: a behemoth dozen bottles of various West Coast wines carefully selected by wine negociant Cameron Hughes. Unlike the Holiday Party Pack Sampler,…
Last month we took some time to review some of the offerings from Cameron Hughes’ OG de Négoce (pronounced “day nuh-go-shay”) fall portfolio. The framework of this extension of the Hughes brand takes a chance on the wine futures market, curating selections from various vineyards at lower prices than those found on actual vineyard labels.…
There’s a million mail-order cocktail kits on the market these days. Liquor Lab is the latest to join the fray, and while it’s a very gimmicky affair, I can see how it might appeal to some drinkers. First: Liquor Lab is a place (there are locations in Nashville and Louisville), and while I’ve never been…
WhiskyEDU is a Whiskies of the World spinoff — a nonprofit, actually — that is focused on, you guessed it, whisky education. Its latest trick is an ambitious tasting series whose goal is singular: To sample product from 162 Scottish distilleries — nearly every single distillery in the country in existence after World War II.…
Nine months ago there was a more optimistic tone to reuniting in public spaces. In an article published at the time, I intonated a foolish sense of optimism that folks would be congregating in large spaces safely without having to worry about catching anything that could potentially land them on a ventilator. Thankfully we are…
Cameron Hughes is no stranger to this site or to the wine world. His reputation as a negociant is well-earned, consistently delivering quality bottles of wine under his own label at sensible, affordable price points. His latest endeavor, de Négoce (pronounced “day nuh-go-shay”), takes things up a level and makes things a bit more interesting…
Single-serve wines don’t often get a lot of love, but Le Grand Verre, a new brand landing in the U.S. this summer, wants to change that. Le Grand Verre describes itself pretty simply, as a “single serve, ethical, proprietarily designed, and predominantly female produced boutique wine collection of France.” Here’s some backstory: Envisioned by three…
A common scene at food-centric events (back when we got to go to food events) would frequently be the Talisker booth, where one busy guy would be tasked with shucking oysters and dousing them with a splash of Talisker whisky to be fed to the faithful. It’s a fun combination — moderately peaty Scotch with…
Half Time Beverage is the self-proclaimed largest online retailer of craft beer. It’s not just the operator of two stores in New York’s Hudson Valley — featuring more than 4000 beer and cider selections — it’s also an online merchant, happily shipping brews directly to the doors of the very thirsty. Sadly, Half Time Beverage…
I have to say, it was a lot of fun receiving my Wild Child tasting flight of wines from In Good Taste. Inside a well-crafted box lay 8 different samples of wine, each 187 ml (roughly 1/4 of a standard bottle). All of the grape varietals were less common varieties. No Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay,…