Review: Boulard Calvados Pays d’Auge VSOP
Boulard is one of the pre-eminent producers of Calvados. This VSOP is just one step up from Boulard’s entry-level bottling, composed of a blend of brandies aged 4 to 10 years old, but it shows nonetheless how one company can do wonders with the simple apple. Crisp, classic apple notes are fresh on the nose, touched…
Review: Label 5 Blended Scotch – Complete Lineup
Label 5 is a blended scotch whisky that is marketed not by the Scots but by a French company called La Martiniquaise. The company dates back to 1934, and its products comprise a number of spirit brands that you have surely never heard of. Label 5 has a small footprint here in America, namely with its…
Recipe: National Pisco Sour Day 2015
Did you know that America has a national day dedicated to the national cocktail of… Peru? We do, and it’s this Saturday (February 7)! For anyone here not Pisco savvy or Peruvian, we’ve got a whole backlog of Pisco profiles for your perusal, but here’s a recipe to get you started on your way to…
Review: Woodford Reserve Rye
Rye has long been the Next Big Thing in whiskeydom, and now it’s Woodford Reserve’s turn to get into the game. (When Maker’s Mark Rye eventually comes out, we can finally be assured that we’ve hit Peak Rye.) Woodford Reserve Straight Rye uses a mash of 53% rye, 14% malted barley, and 33% corn, and,…
Review: Deschutes Brewery Red Chair NWPA (2014) and Hop Henge Experimental IPA (2015)
Winter/spring seasonals from Deschutes have arrived — both can likely be considered 2014/2015 releases, but we did our best on pegging them to a release year in order to keep things organized for those searching through the archives. Thoughts follow. Deschutes Brewery Red Chair NWPA (2014) – This heavily malted Northwest Pale Ale is immediately…
Book Review: Tasting Whiskey
Lew Bryson must be some kind of spirit whisperer. He knows seemingly everything about the whiskey world, and — more importantly — he has managed to distill (ha!) it down to fully readable, understandable essentials with this impressive tome, Tasting Whiskey. As the title implies, Bryson is here to be your insider guide to this often…
Review: Claiborne & Churchill Dry Riesling and Gewurztraminer
Two aromatic whites from this San Luis Obispo-based operation. Thoughts follow. 2013 Claiborne & Churchill Dry Riesling Central Coast – A humble riesling, studded with notes of honey, Meyer lemon, and some green herb garden notes on the nose. The body moves into slightly sweet territory, with chewy nougat dominating, leading to a somewhat woody,…
Review: Wines of Rodney Strong, 2015 Releases
Rodney Strong’s mainstream releases for 2015 are hitting right about now. Â We tasted a trio of its entry-level Sonoma County wines. Thoughts follow. 2013 Rodney Strong Chardonnay Sonoma County – Buttery, but not overdone, this rich-and-creamy Chardonnay offers marshmallows atop notes of tropical fruit — pineapples, plus peaches. Some meaty character gives this some oomph,…