Review: 2021 Tapestry Red Blend Paso Robles
Let’s clear up some things to start. Not to be confused with Beaulieu Vineyard’s other wine named Tapestry (a longtime favorite from the brand), the new Tapestry is also made by a winery owned by BV… though it doesn’t carry their name anywhere on the label. Perhaps that’s because this new Tapestry is made in…
Review: Hennessy Master Blender’s Selection No. 5
Hennessy’s Master Blender’s Selection releases have been arriving at haphazard intervals since their 2016 launch. We reviewed Nos. 2 and 3, but missed out on No. 4. Now Master Blender’s Selection No. 5 is here — the first release in three years — so we’ll have to make up for lost time. This time out,…
Review: Ex Libris Penderyn Welsh Whisky Collection – 2004, 2009, 2010, and 2012
La Maison & Velier got started with its Ex Libris independently bottled whisky collection last year with a 40 year old Canadian whisky — starting out with a bang, to be sure. Now Ex Libris continues its lineup with a quartet of Welsh Whiskies sourced from Penderyn. Each is a single cask of malted barley…
Review: George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey Bottled in Bond 12 Years Old (2024)
Dickel’s bonded expressions continue to arrive at a healthy clip of about one per year since the 2019 launch of the series. This new 2024 version was distilled in Spring 2011 and bottled after 12 years in the barrel. There’s no particular twist with this release (two prior releases were drawn from the same casks…
Review: Goodnight Loving Vodka
Goodnight Loving Vodka is a product that I’m awfully close to, and I mean that literally: The distillery’s CFO lives a few doors down from me, and the distillery is based on a ranch near Fredericksburg, about an hour away. Here in Texas, you can find Goodnight Loving in a large number of bars and…
Review: Holmes Cay Single Cask Rum – Venzeuela 2007 and Barbados 2012 Port Cask
Holmes Cay says that its latest two offerings “are about us growing up as a company,” offering a retail bottling from a “mystery distillery” and round two of a previous hit. Details and tasting notes follow. Holmes Cay Single Cask Rum Venezuela 2007 15 Years Old – Officially anonymous, this 15 year old expression of…
Bar Review: The Dead Rabbit, Austin
One of the most famous cocktail bars in New York is, of all things, an Irish bar. The Dead Rabbit has been slinging Guinness and craft cocktails alike since 2013 — and it’s won all kinds of hosannahs, including a spot on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. We’ve seen two cocktail books from the…
Review: Ironton American Single Malt Bottled in Bond
The Bottled in Bond Act dates to 1897 and established strict standards of quality for American whiskey that were much needed at that point in history. But in modern America, a bottled in bond designation does not carry remotely the same weight that it did in 1897. However, bottled in bond has taken on a…
