Review: Not Your Father’s Bourbon
After giving alcoholic root beer, ginger ale, and cream soda a spin, the “Not Your Father’s” brand has moved on up to hard spirits. Its first product in the category is an obvious one: Not Your Father’s Bourbon, a flavored bourbon which claims “a touch of vanilla” as its only adulterant. Let’s give it a shot.…
Tasting Report: ZAP Zinfandel Experience 2018
First, some housekeeping. ZAP is shorthand for Zinfandel Advocates & Producers, and around these parts they’re best known for a massive showcase of zinfandel wines that happens in January of each year. That showcase is currently called the Zinfandel Experience (though there are additional events), but most attendees just shorthand it as ZAP. ZAP had…
Review: Goodwood Brewing Company Bourbon Barrel Stout
Goodwood Brewing Company in Louisville, Kentucky distinguishes itself from most other craft breweries by wood-aging every beer in its portfolio. According to their website, this is done as “an homage to this region’s distilling legacy and to those old barrels out there that still have so much flavor left to give.” With some of the…
Review: Flaviar Son of a Peat Blended Malt Batch 01
Our pals at Flaviar, which operate a cool spirits subscription service as well as owning our affiliate retail partner Caskers, have released their first ever private label whisky: Son of a Peat. The inaugural Son of a Peat (this is technically Batch 01) is a blended malt Scotch comprised of eight single malts from three…
Review: The Maltman Springbank 24 Years Old from Whisky Foundation
Ever wonder why the price of whisky doesn’t fluctuate with supply and demand like the price of gasoline? Well, now it does — sort of — thanks to The Whisky Foundation Reserve, which is launching the idea of whisky priced based on market demand. Take a look at the listing page (link at the bottom of…
Review: The Sexton Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Ready for a new Irish that isn’t a special release of something from Jameson? Read on! The Sexton is a made in the North Coast of Ireland (at Bushmills, surely, as the two brands have the same ownership, the company Proximo), and is made from a 100% malted barley mash that is triple distilled in…
Review: 2015 Pfendler Vineyards Chardonnay and Pinot Noir
I’d never heard of Pfendler Vineyards before attending a media lunch last week, where I met owner Kimberley Pfendler and winemaker Justin Harmon. I’m glad I did, because what I discovered was some of the best-produced wine I’ve had in recent memory, hailing from Sonoma’s most recently designated AVA, the Petaluma Gap. With production of…
Two Beertails for Chinese New Year 2018
On February 16, the Year of the Dog will be upon us. Sure, you can celebrate with snake wine and firecrackers, or you can fire up one of these lighter cocktails, both made with China’s Tiger Beer, which provided them. Gung hay fat choy! Ginger Lemon Tiger Sour .75 oz fresh lemon juice 1 oz…
