Review: Blade and Bow Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Diageo’s latest Bourbon project arrives with, as usual, plenty of confusion surrounding its provenance. The basic story is that Blade and Bow is launching in two versions, but both are a “tribute” to the famed Stitzel-Weller distillery. I won’t try to digest how these two expressions are made myself, so here’s the relevant PR on…
Review: Bully Boy Distillers Hub Punch
Bully Boy is a Boston-based craft distiller that makes vodka, rum, and white whiskey… and which also makes this oddity: The Hub Punch. What’s Hub Punch? Bully Boy explains: Inspired by the original Hub Punch recipe popular in the late 1800’s, Bully Boy Hub Punch, our barrel aged rum infused with fruits and botanicals, revives…
Review: Hooker’s House Sour Mash Whiskey 7 Years Old
It’s been a couple of years since I first encountered Hooker’s House, and I’ve remained a fan since then. Now the company is back with its first new release in two years, Hooker’s House Sour Mash. This is a single barrel release made from 100% corn that spends 7 years in new, charred white American oak…
Review: Domestik Adjustable Wine and Spirits Aerator
Wine aerators — little gizmos which suck in air and mix with wine or spirits that you pour through them — aren’t a new idea. But Domestik is trying to teach this aging dog some new tricks by letting you adjust the amount air the liquid gets. Just twist the dial on the Domestik and…
Review: Alaskan Brewing Company Imperial Rye
Not to be confused with Alaskan’s Imperial Red Ale, this IPA brewed with rye cuts a surprisingly nutty character, offering notes of bracing, traditional IPA hops plus a backbone that features chocolate, coffee, and lingering notes of baking spice. Consumed straight from the fridge, it sticks closely to the IPA side of things. As it…
Tasting Report: Whiskies of the World Expo San Francisco 2015
This year marked my sixth consecutive in attendance at Whiskies of the World, a fantastic event that’s typically held on the San Francisco Belle paddleboat, docked in San Francisco Bay. I asked organizer Douglas Stone why it seemed so empty this year, and he told me it was an optical illusion: He pushed the distilleries’…
Review: Craft Distillers Low Gap 2 Year Old Rye (2015), 2 Year Old Blended, and 2 Year Old 100 Proof Whiskeys
The mad microdistillers at Craft Distillers keep rolling with the Low Gap line. These whiskeys began as white dog releases in 2011, and the company has been putting out progressively older and more interesting expressions in the years since. Today we got to sample a trio of two year old whiskeys, including a rye, a…
Review: NV Fizz56 Brachetto Spumante
Most of us (myself included) can probably count on one hand the number of sparkling red wines we’ve consumed. If you’ve never given one a try, the oddly-named Fizz56 is a good place to start. This is a sparkling Brachetto, a grape grown predominantly in the Piedmont region of Italy, and which is usually used…