Review: Old Potrero Hotaling’s Bottled in Bond Rye 16 Years Old
Since they began distilling in 1993, Hotaling & Co. has grown a portfolio of in-house and imported brands across American, French, Mexican, Scottish, Taiwanese, Irish, and Japanese spirits (a non-exhaustive list!). At the core of their home-distilled labels is Old Potrero, which the company states is the “first U.S. producer of crafted copper pot-distilled whiskey…
Review: Bodegas Valdemar Conde Valdemar 2015 Reserva and 2019 Crianza
Bodegas Valdemar, located in the renowned Rioja region of Spain, has been producing wine since 1889. Today, we’re taking a look at two wines harvested from the Conde Valdemar vineyards, a significant part of this family-owned winery, located in the Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Alta sub-regions. We’re also revisiting its Crianza offering, which won a…
Review: High West Bottled in Bond Rye and Bourye (2024)
Two big new releases from Utah’s High West, starting with its first bonded whiskey ever, a recognition of its (slow but) steady transition to in-house distillate. 2024’s annual drop of Bourye is also in the review lineup, and it too has a bit of High West’s own whiskey in store for us this year… but…
Book Review: The Book of Rose
As its full title is quite a mouthful, The Book of Rosé: The Provençal Vineyard That Revolutionized Rosé By Whispering Angel and Château D’Esclans (a vineyard that failed to woo Chris nearly a decade ago) sounds pretty all-encompassing. However, this is not the case, as the book focuses solely on one vineyard and one family.…
Review: Mount Gay Rum – Eclipse Navy Strength and Master Blender Selection – Coffey Still
Barbados’ Mount Gay has recently graced us with two new expressions of its rums, one for (relatively) mass consumption, the other extremely limited. Up firs: The gold expression of Mount Gay Eclipse has been gently rebranded as Mount Gay Eclipse Heritage Blend — tagline “Crisp & Aromatic” — and now it has a big brother…
Review: Cocktail & Sons Tonic #15 and Max Bitter Collection
Our friends at New Orleans’ Cocktail & Sons are known for their syrup mixers, and now the company is branching out into bitters — under the “Max Bitter” brand name. Today we’re looking at the latest cocktail sweetener from the operation, plus its three inaugural bitters offerings. Cocktail & Sons Tonic #15 – Made with…
Review: Knob Creek Rye 10 Years Old
A year after adding a seven year age statement to its flagship small batch rye, Knob Creek is back with another permanent addition to the core lineup. It’s that same Kentucky straight rye whiskey, this time aged 10 years, and at a slightly more premium price point. (A $30 bump up from the seven year…
Review: 2019 Famiglia Cotarella Ferentano Bianco Lazio IGP
Ferentano derives from the archaeological site of Ferento, an ancient Etruscan town near the vineyards that grow a grape varietal called roscetto, a white wine grape that is reportedly now grown only in one small vineyard near the town of Montefiascone, in the Lazio region. Chances are you can go your whole life without encountering…