Spirits
Spirits are beverages made by the process of distillation. The “Spirits” category is not commonly used at Drinkhacker because the vast majority of reviews we publish fall into this category. It is used only occasionally to help organize our category list (and mainly gets clicked by accident).
Kanon combines the old world with the new. Made in Sweden (and heralding 1580 as the distillery’s date of opening and the fact that it was founded by the King of Sweden), it’s old-world tradition meets nouveau chic: It’s organic, distilled from local, organically-grown wheat. Sounds good, but how’s it taste? Kanon has a distinctively…
Rum — especially spiced rum — is on the rise again, and BlackBeard is the latest, a Puerto Rican rum being imported by Don Q’s parent company. BlackBeard offers aromas not of the spice box but rather of a traditional aged rum, with strong caramel, some wood, and toffee notes. This continues into the body.…
I’m on record as saying that Jim Beam is one of the most underrated bourbons on the market. It’s not just a quality product, it’s also dirt cheap, and even its higher-end products, like Distillers Series, are crazy inexpensive. As the label notes, Jim Beam’s new Black Label is “double aged” — double the age…
A staple of the high-end bar scene (and even available at most dives), Effen is distilled from wheat in Holland and bottled at 80 proof. All pretty standard stuff, and Effen is indeed a fairly straightforward vodka. Grainy and a bit medicinal on the nose and on the tongue, it offers a moderately long finish…
The good folks at Heaven Hill’s Parker’s continue their annual bourbon blowout with this 4th edition of Parker’s Heritage Collection, a 10-year-old wheated mashbill whiskey, bottled at cask strength. (That strength will vary, but in the case of my sample, that’s 127.8 proof.) Last year’s Golden Anniversary bourbon was hot but full of gorgeous fruit…
A bittersweet amaro-style liqueur, Calisaya is made in an Italian style, but not in Italy — rather, in Cottage Grove, Oregon. Not nearly as dark as most amaros, Calisaya is a deep orange, in keeping with its orange-inflected flavor. But the base of Calisaya is not distinctly orange but rather cinchona bark, a tree which…
Benchmark Old No. 8 (from our friends at Buffalo Trace) has been winning awards right and left of late — and it’s easy to see why. At about $14 a bottle, it offers outstanding quality for a pittance. Benchmark, made with a fair amount of rye, has a deep amber color, and the nose is…
With the popularity (and quality) of rum rising, the Ministry of Rum continues its mission of exposing the world to great rums and rum cocktails. Recently I had the opportunity to sample numerous hard-to-find, new, and very old rums at the Ministry’s event in Alameda. Ratings and some brief thoughts on everything tasted follow. Bear…
Despite the Snoop Dogg endorsement (or, perhaps, because of it), the VSOP expression of Landy’s cognac is pretty pedestrian stuff. Harshly earthly and woody on the nose, it tastes strongly of apple with a finish that veers toward bitter. The finish is on the hard side, a reminder that this cognac is awfully young. (The…
The problem with cherry flavored spirits, of course, is the cough syrup connection. Cherry flavoring is so endemic in over-the-counter throat and lung remedies that most drinkers immediately want to climb back in bed once a cherry liquor hits their lips. Bacardi bypasses that problem with its new cherry rum by “torching” it — now,…