Book Review: Spirit of the North
As a guy who runs a website about alcohol and who’s married to a Swede, I read “spirit of the north” literally: The spirit of the north is of course aquavit, or maybe vodka, depending on the season. Of course, Selma Slabiak’s book isn’t intended to be so literal: For her, the spirit of the…
Review: Whiskey Del Bac Classic (2022) and Winter Release 2021
Hamilton Distillers has been making and marketing their distinctive, Arizona based single malt Whiskey Del Bac since 2013, and we had a chance to try three varieties in 2018. Today we revisit the Whiskey Del Bac Classic, which is the only whiskey in their core line that does not use mesquite to roast its barley.…
Book Review: Fever-Tree Easy Mixing
Over the years we’ve been lucky enough to sample some of the best of the best mixers and of those, the name Fever-Tree consistently appears at the top of the list. Whether it’s ginger ale, ginger beer, lemon mixers, club soda, or just plain tonic water, the outcome is always an enjoyable one and improves…
Review: Templeton Rye 4, 6, and 10 Years Old (2022)
Templeton Rye has been with us since the dawn of the “non-distillery producer” — and the backlash that came along with them. (We first reviewed Templeton way back in 2009, none the wiser and well before people were talking about NDPs in earnest.) Templeton had a lot of street cred when it first launched and…
Review: DaySmith Coffee+
Pop into any bodega or convenience store and chances are there will be a cooler filled with ready-to-drink coffee options ready to refresh and energize. You probably won’t find DaySmith in those options, as this plucky little Texas upstart is just getting its feet wet in the market, but we were lucky to sample a…
Review: Bardstown Bourbon Fusion Series #6 and Discovery Series #6
Bardstown Bourbon Co. is kicking off 2022 with what else, their bi-annual Fusion and Discovery Series releases which now number six in total. This bourbon duo impressed us at launch back in 2019, and while the Discovery Series release has remained consistently top notch, the Fusion Series struggled a bit in 2021. Let’s see how…
Book Review: The Atlas of Bourbon & American Whiskey
In what is becoming an increasingly gluttonous market of bourbon and American whiskey-related books, the ability to stand out and provide a new perspective grows ever more challenging. How many times does one need to read about mashbill recipes before wanting to hurl themselves into a fermentation tank? How many times does one need to…
Review: R.L. Seale’s Barbados Rum 10 Years Old
Last fall, we reviewed R.L. Seale’s 12 Year Rum, but not long into the new year we discovered to our surprise it has a little brother. Same packaging; same Foursquare provenance; same super unique bottle, which, as an aside, is reportedly designed to mimic the leather rum jugs used by pirates, complete with a thumb…
