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).
In its distinctive hand-grenade bottle (with cardboard shell), a bottle of Glenrothes comes across like a liquid hand grenade. The Glenrothes Select Reserve is the entry-level variation on this whisky, an 80-proof concoction from Speyside with no age statement, a single malt vatted from Glenrothes whiskys of a variety of ages. (Since it’s all malted…
Reader Paul Moody writes: Is there any real reason to decant a bourbon? There seems to be a good selection of crystal decanters to be found on the market these days, but are they primarily for style and looks? They are strictly for looks. Decanting wine is done to aerate the wine and minimize the…
Mezcalapalooza continues with this mezcal, a 100% agave anejo, aged one year in oak, and bottled at 80 proof, sans worm or other insect. Maria’s “Mezcal de Oaxaca” is quite unique. Though it offers traditional aromas of smoke laced with agave, the body is something else. Tart like a cherry, it is both sweet and…
When last we visited Tequila Ocho we sampled the bottler’s 2008 and 2009 “single estate” tequilas, comparing two silver tequilas side by side. Today we turn to the 2009 reposado expression. Also from the Rancho Las Pomez Estate, this reposado is aged for 8 weeks and 8 days (which, I guess, is the same as…
When I was a kid my dad had the coolest bottle of booze on the planet. Actually it was two bottles, fused into a single decanter: Benedictine on one side, B&B (a blend of brandy and Benedictine) on the other, each with its own spout. Coolest thing on earth to look at, but not once…
Check the top shelf of any respectable bar and Old Raj Dry Gin is probably represented there. And rightly so: This is top-shelf gin in both its incarnations and merits serious praise from any gin aficionado. Old Raj comes from the UK’s Cadenhead’s, a company best known for its independent Scotch whisky bottlings (it’s Scotland’s…
The bourbon wizards at Four Roses are at it again, with yet another solid expression. Four Roses updates its portfolio with this limited edition single-barrel release, vintage dated 2009 and limited to just 1,800 bottles — at most. Made using the OESQ recipe and aged 11 years, it was selected from 10 recipes lingering around…
The original Malibu coconut-flavored rum isn’t just a staple of every bar, it’s also one of the most venerable flavored spirits on the market, dating back to 1980. Lately, Malibu’s been branching out into other flavors, since 2004 launching Mango, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, and Banana expressions. Malibu Island Melon marks the company’s first step into…
No other way to put it: Mijes’ (also known as Mixes on some bottles, see below) mezcal bottles are unmistakeably eye-catching, shaped vaguely like a drunken snail or perhaps a brain that’s been run over by a truck. Inside, Mijes’ premium joven (a blend of new and old spirit, filtered back to clear) mezcal/mescal (100%…
If you’d have told me someone was going to try to blend cognac with the essence of pears and bottle it as a liqueur, I’d have told you that was nuts. But Xanté isn’t nuts, it’s real. And it is indeed a lot like pears, defying all logic and expectations about what a deep brown…