Review: Headwind Vodka
Formally “Headwind Craft FWD Vodka,” this spirit hails from Portland, Oregon, where a “high-quality, gluten-free, corn-based grain is six times distilled and filtered through Pacific Northwest timber.” A thin label made of birch wood, bearing batch and bottle number, reinforces the lumberjack connection. Do outdoorsy types drink vodka? The nose presents itself as a fairly…
Review: Catoctin Creek Infinity Barrel #InThisTogether Rye
Breweries and distilleries are doing their best to acknowledge our trying times, and Virginia’s Catoctin Creek recently dropped its own charity-focused whiskey, a 100% rye aged in leftover casks from its barrel select program, with profits going to support struggling restaurants and bars. The barrels used represent a hodgepodge of stuff, including an American chardonnay…
Review: The Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
Rum is hot right now — at least in the world of whiskey it is, where rum casks are being used in all manner of new whiskey releases, including expressions from Dewar’s, Tullamore D.E.W., and now The Glenlivet, which finishes a non-age-stated single malt in Caribbean rum casks for an undetermined length of time. You…
Review: Harpoon Midnight in Manhattan
Boston-based Harpoon is the king of collaborations, and this one’s as nutty as its prior collabs: A partnership with New York’s Kings County Distillery to create a beer that is inspired by the Manhattan cocktail. It’s a brown ale that uses chestnuts and tart cherries in the mash, then ages the finished product in Kings County…
Review: Wheel Horse Rye Batch 1
Wheel Horse is a sourced whiskey distilled at Kentucky’s O.Z. Tyler — and in fact it’s the first rye (95% rye, 5% malted barley) to come out of O.Z. (and its forebears) since the company was founded. The bottler is Ocean State Distillers, based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. The whiskey itself carries no age statement…
Review: 2019 Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc Reserva
This year Veramonte has rolled out a new look for its wines. As well, after making a bug push into organic farming over the last 8 years, it’s moving many of its vineyards to biodynamic practices. This simple and bargain-priced wine — now billed as a Reserva — is one of the Chilean operation’s flagship…
Review: Quarantine Vodka
Our friends at Flaviar and Caskers are known for their limited edition whiskey, rum, and even brandy releases, and with Quarantine, the company is moving into the vodkaverse. It’s made in San Diego and distilled six times, but otherwise details are scant. If you want to get down to it, the most distinctive aspect of…
Review: 21st Amendment Tropical Sparkale
Brewed with pineapple, coconut, and apple, Tropical Sparkale is the latest in a long line of fruit-centric beers from San Francisco-based 21st Amendment. This one’s billed merely as a “sparkling beer,” and is crafted to reduce both alcohol and gluten. And hey, I hope you like fruit. This is a monster full of coconut and…