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).
Made from coca leaves. Wow, OK. Not quite sure how to even begin with this one. Agwa de Bolivia (“crafted in Amsterdam”) is one hell of a liqueur, a mouthwash green monster that’s pungent with menthol character and greener than Scope — and, yes, made with real coca leaf. (Hey, don’t get too excited. So…
While straight-up Combier is a clear, pure-orange liqueur, the “Royal” version adds a spin. The boozemasters at Combier start with the top-notch triple sec, then add cognac and (their words) “arguably the most famous of all French hygienic liqueurs in the 19th century, Elixir de Combier (which includes ingredients such as aloe, nutmeg, myrrh, cardamom,…
Reportedly a recipe that dates back to 1632, Combier (which makes an outstanding orange liqueur) is now producing this complicated cherry spirit, a pinkish-red liqueur popular, they say, in the court of Louis XIV. It’s easy to see why the royals enjoyed it: Combier Rouge is unlike your typical cherry liqueur (such as Peter Heering),…
Black Maple Hill is (or at least it was when we published this in 2009) a sourced Kentucky Straight Bourbon, bottled with no age statement. The bourbon is extremely citrusy in character, with big orange notes and nose leading into some wood tones. The finish is silky and sweet, but not too much so. Overall…
It’s been a while — too long, perhaps — since we sampled a new cachaca at Drinkhacker HQ, but Cuca Fresca has arrived to our watering palates. Cuca Fresca Cachaca – This unaged Brazilian rum is intensely fragrant, filling the room with sweet lime notes. The body is more typical of cachaca, with that smoky…
Master of Malt is a whisky and spirits merchant, and it’s also making its own line of spirits from privately bottled single malt scotches from all over Scotland — including at least one I’d never even heard of before. We sampled a solid five of these offerings, with results all over the proverbial map. Master…
Slogan: 50% malt, 50% grain, 50% abv. This whisky from the independent bottlers at Duncan Taylor and Co. is half malt whisky and half grain, and far better than that pedigree might imply. Normally blended Scotch is relegated to the second tier of the whisky world, but this is a real knockout of a whisky.…
Made this for company, to rousing applause — to take advantage of Bulldog gin, one of my new favorites, and Ty Ku liqueur. The cool, light green color didn’t come across in my photo, alas… The Bull Ku Cocktail 1 1/4 oz. Bulldog gin 1/2 oz. Ty Ku (original) liqueur Prosecco or cava Shake the…
Booze: The gift that keeps on giving, whether you like it or not. It’s now tradition at Drinkhacker to look back at the best new spirits of the year, offering our suggestions on our favorite tipples — and the stuff that’s most likely to impress your holiday giftee should he find a neatly wrapped bottle…
Every new vodka that comes out these days has a gimmick (how could it not?), and Akvinta’s — which hails from the sunny shores of Croatia, which the company says earns it the moniker of the Mediterranean’s first luxury vodka — is this: It’s triple distilled and filtered five times, five different ways: Through charcoal,…