Review: Bertha’s Revenge Small Batch Irish Milk Gin
Bertha, Big Bertha to her friends, was an exquisite, whiskey-drinking, grand dame of a cow. She was a Droimeann, a now endangered Irish breed that whether black, white, or red, are typically defined by a long, pale brushstroke of a stripe that extends from neck to tail. Bertha was beautiful then, but she was also…
Review: Highline Bourbon and Triple Rye
Despite the American whiskey scene in 2023 being more equitable than ever, there’s still a great deal of gender imbalance. This isn’t necessarily an indictment, but rather the reality of an only recently popular category that was largely built in the American South by predominantly white males. While women seem to be increasingly visible in…
Review: Convite Mezcal Una’
Convite makes a range of high-grade mezcals, but with Una’ — yes, with an apostrophe at the end; the term means “woman” in Zapotec — it’s on to something with a twist. It’s produced with espadin agave but colored a light shade of pink (with cochineal tint) in order to give it a thematic alignment…
Review: La Maison & Velier Rums, Early 2023 Releases
The other day a mysterious little box landed on my doorstep, filled with small samples of spirits bearing strange names with all-caps labels attached to them. ISAUTIER CANE. FLAG SERIES TRINI. RIVERS. What I soon realized I had in hand was seven samples of fine rums from La Maison & Velier, which distributes some of…
Review: ImpEx Core Expressions 2023: Ardnamurchan, Filey Bay, Lochlea, and Wolfburn
ImpEx continues to rise in prominence as an importer and indie bottler of rare, obscure, unusual, and important whiskeys — not to mention rum and (soon) mezcal. (Stay tuned for details.) We’ll get to more independent bottlings from ImpEx soon, but today we’re looking at four distillery releases which ImpEx considers its “core expressions” for…
Review: Blue Run Trifecta Bourbon
Now a happy member of the Molson Coors family, the still largely unknown Blue Run is out with its first post-acquisition whiskey. Trifecta is a blend of three bourbons (apparently all sourced from Kentucky), with three different mashbills and ages, specifically: 32%: 9-year-old: 78% yellow corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley 22%: 8-year-old: 75% yellow…
Review: Virginia Distillery Co. Courage & Conviction Double Cask Reserve
Virginia Distillery Co. has spent the last two years promoting a line extension of Courage & Conviction expressions and their single cask, limited edition siblings, all of which are pulled from individual components of the flagship Courage & Conviction. For the latest addition to their portfolio, this highly regarded American single malt maker is getting…
“Best White Dog of My Life”: An Interview With High Wire Distilling’s Scott Blackwell and Ann Marshall
On the eve of their 10th anniversary, Drinkhacker sat down with Ann Marshall and Scott Blackwell of Charleston’s High Wire Distilling. What began as a short Q&A pinpointing a few of the James Beard-nominated distillery’s highlights quickly evolved into an hours-long conversation about agriculture, friends, family, and just plain ol’ culture. The recurring theme during…
