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).
This year, Laphroaig bids farewell to its 15 year old Scotch and replaces it with one of slightly higher maturity (and perhaps a bit more coin): Laphroaig 18 Years Old. It’s quite an interesting malt from the Islay-based distiller, more mature and refined than the younger Laphroaig, which is invariably so heavy on the peat…
There are a lot of ways to get apple character into a cocktail — Calvados, apple juice, even Apple Pucker, God help you — and now Van Gogh adds “wild” apple to its lineup of flavored vodkas. Truth be told this isn’t my favorite entry into the otherwise top-notch Van Gogh arsenal. The aroma and…
From the maker of one of my most treasured spirits of the year comes Natur & Eleganse, a Cognac aged at least 10 years in oak casks. What’s immediately surprising is how this spirit, deep amber in the bottle, is a pale gold when poured into a glass. The oddities don’t stop there, though. The…
Ted Haigh reminds us in Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails that there’s a reason why the Pegu Club in New York has its name. Pegu Club Cocktail 1 1/2 oz. gin 1/2 oz. Cointreau 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice 2 dashes Angostura bitters Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Goes down a…
Vermont Spirits already makes two vodkas with the strangest source material around — milk sugar and maple sap — and now it’s gone the “limited edition” route. Vermont’s Limited Release Vodka is also made of maple sap, but only the “early run sap,” the first flows of the “sugaring” season when sap is drawn from…
On the heels of Pierre Ferrand’s 10-year-old Ambre, I gave the distillery’s 20-year-old Reserve cognac a try. I was less of a fan of this edition of Ferrand’s brandy, which is considerably darker in color but comes off as a bit brutish and somewhat unbalanced. The flavors are relatively typical of the space, veering more…
4 Orange Vodka: Orange-flavored vodka, right? Not exactly: This is vodka made out of oranges. Nothing but Florida oranges (four varieties of ’em, hence the name). And flavored with oranges: As you might expect, it’s quite orangey, jammy/marmalade-like in character and with only a little bit of bitter orange peel bite in the finish. Very…
Plantation Rum. The name sounds innocuous, but the way these rums are made are unlike any others you’re likely to encounter. The rums are produced by the team behind Pierre Ferrand cognac and Citadelle Gin, single-country in origin with a bit of a twist. The rums are distilled in the country in which the sugar…
Unassuming at just $45 (at most — I’ve seen if for $35 sometimes), Pierre Ferrand’s Ambre is hardly an ultra-luxe cognac. And yet for the price you pay you’re getting an exceptionally high-quality brandy that I find hard not to recommend to any cognac fan. In fact, I like it quite a bit better than…
This potato-based vodka hails from Maine — who knew they had potatoes in Maine? — from tubers grown on Cold River’s own farm and bottled using water from its own local aquifer. In fact, everything is done on the premises, and the results show in the finished product: This is a smooth and enchanting vodka…