Book Review: Bourbon Justice
There are lots of bourbon books out there but none quite like Brian Haara’s Bourbon Justice. This history of America’s native spirit takes bourbon geeking to new heights, and I mean that in a good way. Plenty of books will give you a history of bourbon, recounting the many embellished stories and tall tales that have…
Review: Virginia Distillery Co. Port Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky (2019)
While the Virginia Distillery Co. gears up for the launch next spring of its new flagship brand, Courage & Conviction, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit its current flagship offering, the Port Cask Finished Virginia-Highland Whisky. With releases now well into the double digits, plenty has changed about this whisky since…
Review: Spirits Network Enthusiast Club
Spirits Network offers a wide range of boozy products, gifts, and even a streaming entertainment network, but it’s arguably best known for its clubs (which it calls memberships), of which it markets two different ones. SN sent us a sample of its Enthusiast Membership (its less expensive of the two subscription boxes) to see what…
Review: Copper & Kings Riding with the King Brandy
Copper & Kings can’t quit with the funky brandy bottlings, the latest being this Elvis-inspired expression, Riding With The King. Nope, it’s not made with peanut butter, bacon, or Quaaludes, it’s a brandy finished (for roughly half its life) in red wine barrels. Details: The brandy is just over five years old, with 29 months of…
Review: Game of Thrones Mortlach Six Kingdoms 15 Years Old
Holy shit, Game of Thrones ended over 6 months ago, but Diageo, which owns the license to make whiskey with the GoT label, just can’t let it go. To wit, we have the twelfth — and final, we’re told — bottling in the Game of Thrones whisky collection, a 15 year old Mortlach named after the Six…
Review: Reed’s Ginger Beer Extra Zero Sugar
Want the spicy punch of a proper Moscow Mule without the sugar of the typical ginger beer? Try the sugar-free version of Reed’s Extra, which is made with twice the ginger of Reed’s Original ginger beer. The punch of the extra ginger is helpful at covering up some of the “proprietary natural sweetener blend,” which…
Review: Ninkasi Heart and Science West Coast IPA
West coast IPA you say? This new juicy IPA from Ninkasi (previously a one-off release, now part of the permanent lineup) has me wondering whether the Oregon-based brewery has its directions mixed up. Unabashedly fruity with notes of pineapple, orange, and lemon up front, it takes a moment for a surprisingly healthy punch of bitter…
Tasting Report: 2016 St. Emilion Bordeaux Wines
As they did last year, over a dozen winemakers from Bordeaux’s St. Emilion region traveled to the U.S. to showcase their 2016 releases, many of which have just hit the market. (Surprisingly, a smattering of 2017s were also being poured.) We caught up with them during their San Francisco visit, tasting the new releases as…
