Review: Spirit Almonds
Nuts make for a near-perfect drinking snack, and Spirit Almonds are a step up from your jar of Planters. Crafted as a “Japanese style” snack, the nuts come in six different flavors, many of which have a distinct eastern vibe. While mustard and curry are fairly traditional, things get further afield when you delve into…
Review: Eda Rhyne Pinnix Gin and Amaro Oscura
We last checked in on Asheville’s Eda Rhyne Distilling Company back in 2020 when their young portfolio featured only a trio of impressive herbal liqueurs. Three years and one global pandemic later, these mountain medicine makers have added to their lineup with a handful of new offerings including an RTD and a long-awaited rye whiskey…
Review: Freeland Spirits Forest Gin
While watching the development of the amazing range of new gins that have been produced in recent years, I have been particularly excited to try ones that closely highlight the specific region from which the botanicals are drawn. How fantastic that Freeland Spirits has released a new gin, its third, made with locally sourced botanicals…
Review: WhistlePig PiggyBack Single Barrel – Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake Edition
WhistlePig — the distillery that never met a gimmick too outlandish to turn into a shipping product (including finishing whiskey with David Ortiz’s baseball bats) — has another whopper on tap for drinkers. With this third edition in the PiggyBack Legends Series (following the Ortiz bottling and an edition made with country stars the Brothers…
Tasting the Wines of Authentique with Sommsation, 2023 Releases
Sommsation is a wine shop as well as an experience — an online store which doesn’t just sell you the wines you’re drinking but can also guide you through the tasting process if you’re so inclined. While you can fill up your cart with individual bottles, Sommsation — not “Sommstation,” as I often call it…
The Top 10 Wines for Winter 2024
Are temperatures starting to dip in your neck of the woods? While winter still seems to be a far-away dream, the days of daily heat advisories and rolling blackouts seem to be behind us for another year. So let’s celebrate: With one (or more) of these 10 top bottlings that we’ve hand-selected as perfectly paired…
Review: Tequila Don Ramon Tamarindo
Tequila Don Ramon makes high-end tequilas so fancy that Pierce Brosnan is a spokesman for them. It also makes this: A 100% agave blanco that is artificially flavored with tamarind flavor. It smells nice enough — sweet, with clear tamarind notes, both spicy and earthy — but the flavor is another animal. Charitably, it is…
Sustainability and Scotch: Old Pulteney Distillery Manager Malcolm Waring
Malcolm Waring has spent years thinking about water. Waring started with Pulteney Distillery in 1990, and after working his way up the production ladder, he became Distiller Manager, a title he’s held for 15 years. As the leader of the team behind Old Pulteney’s core and limited expressions, his responsibilities focus on production capacity and…