Review: Cocalero Clasico Liqueur
Cocaleros are South American coca leaf farmers, and it may surprise you to know that Cocalero Clasico is not the first liqueur to be bottled in their honor. That distinction falls to Agwa de Bolivia, which appears to still be on the market. Cocalero is every bit as green and scary looking as Agwa, but…
Review: Charbay R5 Hop-Flavored Whiskey Lot 5 (2019)
Ukiah, California-based Charbay has long produced (since 2013) a unique whiskey made from Bear Republic’s Racer 5 IPA. The beer is distilled, aged (for how long isn’t specified), and bottled. For this release, 10 barrels were produced. Lot 5 of R5 has also been released to raise money for Stand for Kindness and survivors of…
Review: Blue Moon Iced Coffee Blonde
Coffee infused beers are popping up everywhere. It started with stouts, but now coffee is being used in other styles as well. Blue Moon takes the next step in this progression with the first nationally available blonde coffee beer. It is a wheat beer made with fair trade decaffeinated coffee beans and a touch of…
Review: Westland Garryana Native Oak Series 2019 Edition 4|1
Garryana #4 from Seattle’s Westland is on us, marking the fourth year this unusual single malt, aged partly in Garryana oak barrels that are sourced from the Pacific Northwest, has been produced. For 2019, Westland has released more than twice as many bottles while dropping the abv, and the total amount of production information is…
Drinkhacker 2019 Wine Cheat Sheet / Vintage Chart
The wine list can be a daunting thing, in no small part because of the litany of years that appear next to all the wineries, regions, and grape varieties printed in languages you probably don’t speak. Should you opt for a 2016 cabernet over a 2015? What about this 2008 Chateauneuf-du-Pape on deep discount? Go…
Review: Koval Bourbon and Rye
Chicago-based Koval is one of the old guard of American craft distilling, but we’ve actually had limited hands on experience with their products, namely limited to a collection of reviews way back in 2011 (check out those labels!) when most of the whiskeys were unaged and some didn’t even carry the Koval name. Today we’re…
Review: WhistlePig Old World Rye 12 Years Old Flaviar Chef’s Blend 2019
Recently, WhistlePig and online booze merchant Flaviar did something funny: They got four James Beard nominated chefs to get together and create an exclusive release of WhistlePig called Chef’s Blend. It’s not a barrel pick but rather a custom version of WhistlePig’s 12 year old Old World Rye, a special blend of four different types…
Review: Deschutes Brewery Only Slightly Exaggerated IPA and HandUp IPA
Deschutes has two new beers for your consideration, and they’re both IPAs. Let’s see what the story is… Deschutes Brewery Only Slightly Exaggerated IPA – Perhaps you’ve lately seen the state of Oregon’s quirky ads for its quirky state, touting how lovely it is in “only slightly exaggerated” fashion. If not, well, click the link.…
