Review: Jim Beam Signature Craft 12 Years Old
This past February a cadre of young, good-looking spirit scribes were assembled at Beam’s brand new Global Innovation Center, a $30 million compound with an aesthetic somewhere between a high-tech office and the Hall of Justice. Many new products were premiered for our consideration and tasting. However, the diamond in the rough which caught our…
Review: Black Velvet Toasted Caramel Canadian Whisky
A funny thing happens when I try to type “Canadian.” I always mistype “Candian” instead. Never has that been a more apropos typo than with Black Velvet’s Toasted Caramel Whisky. Flavored with a hefty dose of “natural toasted caramel flavor,” this sugar bomb is so dense with sugar it’s actually difficult to swallow it. The…
Review: Kirk and Sweeney Dominican Rum 12 Years Old
35 Maple Street — the California-based folks behind Uncle Val’s gin and Masterson’s rye whiskey — has turned its sights on yet another spirit: rum. Maple isn’t messing around with Kirk and Sweeney (the name refers to a rum-running schooner that worked the Caribbean in the Prohibition era), an intense Dominican rum with 12 years…
Review: Deerhammer Down Time Single Malt Whiskey
Take Deerhammer’s pot-distilled, 100% malted barley Whitewater whiskey and throw it in a new oak barrel (with heavy toast/light-medium char), and see what happens. This Colorado-based “hybrid” whiskey reportedly spends less than a year in half-size barrels, which creates a light-brown yet pleasant looking whiskey. The nose is intensely woody, hinting at sweetness but dominated…
Alcohol + Ice Cream = Book Reviews
It’s the last great frontier for alcohol: Frozen dessert treats. Booze is tricky in frozen desserts because it lowers the freezing temperature of whatever you add it to. A bottle of vodka in the freezer doesn’t freeze, even at 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Add it to ice cream the wrong way and you get more of…
Review: Michter’s US-1 Original Sour Mash Whiskey
Michter’s is the It Company of the American whiskey world right now, its from-the-ashes story bringing many fans forward to hear about its charms. Michter’s is a brand that dates waaaay back to 1753 but which went bankrupt in 1989. In 1990 the company was rescued and relaunched, and only in the last five years…
Review: Just Chill Natural Stress Relief Beverages (2013 Flavors)
As “relaxation drinks” go, Just Chill is one of the better products on the market. Since its 2011 introduction, the product has been a success, and now the company is rolling out two new flavors plus a slightly revamped can design. Each 12 oz. can is now 70 calories instead of 50, as the cans…
Review: Eastside Distilling Burnside Double Barrel Bourbon
This brand new whiskey hails from Eastside Distilling in Portland, Oregon, and the two barrels in question are a traditional new oak barrel, followed by a second turn for 60 days in a new heavy-char barrel made from Oregon oak. Essentially, its Eastside’s 4 year old Burnside Bourbon (mashbill: 75% corn, 10% rye, 15% malted…
