Review: South Bay Rum
Here’s a decidedly unique approach to crafting a rum. South Bay Rum is made from molasses in the Dominican Republic, aged and blended in the solera style. The catch is in the barrels used for the aging: South Bay uses a collection of casks that previously contained bourbon, sherry, port, or single malt Scotch whisky, an approach…
Review: Laphroaig Select
Another step in the “NAS” (no age statement) movement that’s sweeping the whisky world, Laphroaig Select is a new expression from the Islay standby that is deathly devoid of numerics. Laphroaig’s approach with this release is an interesting one, taking a variety of styles of the whiskies in its stable and mixing them all together.…
Review: Jura Brooklyn
Scotch distillers continue to take oddball twists and turns. For Jura, its latest adventure brought it from the Isle of Jura and landed it in Brooklyn, New York. Jura Brooklyn is a dramatic bespoke single malt with a bizarre provenance. Here’s the deets: In 2013, Jura brought together 12 respected Brooklyn artisans to co-collaborate on…
Tasting Report: Cinsault Wines from Lodi’s Bechthold Vineyard, 2014 Releases
Cinsault may not be a household wine varietal, but they sure seem to grow a bunch of it up in Lodi, located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada. Recently the Lodi winemaking trade group sponsored a tasting of four Cinsault wines, all from the region’s Bechthold Vineyard. Primarily known as a blending grape in…
Dispatch from the 2014 Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival
Autumn wasn’t technically with us in late August, but that didn’t stop the folks at Northstar Resort in Lake Tahoe, California, from putting on a grandiose wine and food festival. Now in its 29th year, the Lake Tahoe Autumn Food and Wine Festival is a multi-day event that combines a walk-around tasting with focused events…
Review: Coppersea New York Raw Rye
Coppersea Distilling is a new upstate New York-based craft distiller that’s doing things the old-fashioned way. Based on a farm in the Hudson Valley, the grains are grown locally, floor malted and milled on the premises, distilled, then blended with on-site well water. With this product, the end result is an unaged rye (75% unmalted rye, 25%…
Review: anCnoc Rutter and Flaughter Single Malts
anCnoc (pronounced a-NOCK) is the whisky produced by the Knockdu distillery, presumably called thus because “Knockdhu” was too easy to spell and pronounce.* anCnoc, a Highland producer right on the edge of Speyside, is known for its unpeated spirits, but now it’s hitting the market with a quartet of peated expressions. These whiskies, all named…
Review: 2011 Faust Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
Faust’s latest Cab is ready to go today. Gentle menthol notes mix with overtones of rhubarb and a touch of vanilla. The body starts off with a touch of vegetal character, but this dissolves into more classic Napa Cab notes: rich currants, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry on the back end. Long and fruit-forward finish, with…
