Book Review: Shaking Up Prohibition in New Orleans
Shaking Up Prohibition in New Orleans: Authentic Vintage Cocktails from A to Z is a cocktail book that needs significant introduction to be understood. Written in the 1920s by two New Orleans suffragettes, Olive Leonhardt and Hilda Hammond, the manuscript was recently unearthed by Gay Leonhardt, a descendant of Olive’s. The book is tied to the alphabet,…
Review: Starr Hill Northern Lights IPA (2015)
It’s not every day a brewer updates the recipe to one of their top-selling beers. But a few weeks ago, Starr Hill made some “enhancements” to Northern Lights IPA, its top-selling product since its introduction in 2007. What’s been changed? Starr Hill explains: “New hop varieties — including Falconer’s Flight, Simcoe and Centennial — have…
Review: Woodford Reserve Distillery Series – Sweet Mash Redux and Double Double Oaked (2015)
This year, Woodford Reserve takes a page from the Buffalo Trace playbook and is launching a series of one-off, limited release whiskeys for our fun and enjoyment. They aren’t quite as “experimental” as the BT Experimental series, but they are also not as unique as Woodford’s annually-released Master’s Collection whiskeys (which remain a separate entity).…
Review: Four Kings Rye 2015 Craft Collaboration
Last year, four craft distillers got together and made a collaborative bourbon by vatting together their own craft spirits into one mega-craft bourbon called Four Kings. (Don’t go searching for a review, we didn’t sample it.) This year, the quartet is back at it but is producing a rye instead. The four distilleries include Corsair Distillery in…
Review: Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection from SF Wine Trading
Wow, another Four Roses Single Barrel Private Selection offering in the space of a month and our third to date. This one hails from the San Francisco Wine Trading Company, which I bet you can guess the location of. SF Wine Trading’s Four Roses bottling is an OESK (20%Â rye with a lightly spicy yeast component)…
Review: West Sixth Heller Heaven Double IPA
West Sixth brewing (aka: the guys that fought with Magic Hat over their logo) have been on a winning streak with seasonal offerings (I’m already counting the days until this year’s Christmas ale), and Heller Heaven is pleasantly no exception. Lots of summer on the nose with an abundance of citrus, a little bit of pine and…
Review: Vov Zabajone Cream Liqueur
Primary colors on the label. A name in quotes — “VOV” — and all caps, at that. Opaque, white bottle. What the hell is Vov? Vov looks like something a clown would have to nurse to get through his next birthday party, but in reality, it’s an exotic Italian cream liqueur. This “traditional Italian Zabajone…
Book Review: You Suck at Drinking
Hey Matthew Latkiewicz — if that is your real name! — who are you to tell me I suck at drinking! Oh, you write for McSweeney’s. I suppose that gives you some McThority on the topic of the proper treatment of hooch and hooch consumption. Kidding around aside — which is hard to do when discussing…