Review: Casa Noble Tequila, Complete Lineup (2014)
From time to time we like to revisit spirits we’ve spent time with in the past. Management changes. Production practices change. Formulations change. Climate changes. And stuff varies from bottle to bottle even when none of the above changes. Sometimes our reviews are identical. Sometimes they’re wildly different. Today we look again at Casa Noble,…
Review: Del Maguey Iberico Mezcal
Del Maguey’s Pechuga Mezcal is legendary in the mezcal world, and justifiably so. For those not in the know, in Spanish, a pechuga is a poultry breast, commonly a chicken breast. Why would you call your mezcal Pechuga? Because it has a chicken breast in it. How’s that? Del Maguey mezcel is distilled three times, and…
Review: The Arran Malt 17 Years Old and Arran Sherry Premium Single Cask 1997
Isle of Arran-based Arran keeps pumping out special releases, with these two new offerings now hitting the market. Thoughts on both follow. The Arran Malt 17 Years Old – A limited edition bottling, fully matured in ex-sherry casks, this is the second release in a trilogy of single malts leading up to what will be…
Review: 2011 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
In contrast to the more austere, iconic Calistoga bottling, a lighter style of Cab is also available from Chateau Montelena this year, a rare, fresh Cabernet that you can actually enjoy with warm weather, fresh and lively at just 13.4% abv. Fresh strawberry and light vanilla cookie notes dominate — altogether unusual for a Napa Cabernet.…
Review: Arteis & Co. Vintage Brut Champagne – 1999 Brut and 2002 Extra Brut
Arteis is a small French producer of Champagne “micro-cuvees.” The company made its big introduction to the U.S. market in New York last year. Now it’s making more inroads to the U.S., mainly in restaurant markets. We sampled two of the four Arteis vintages now on the market; both are well-aged Champagnes that have just…
Review: Oryza Vodka and Oryza Gin
Donner-Peltier Distillers, the Louisiana-based company behind the Rougaroux line of rums, has a little bit of everything in its stable including, of course, two white spirits: Oryza Vodka and Oryza Gin. Oryza Vodka is distilled from local rice, 17 times, they say, in a copper (column) still. The vodka has a rustic quality to the…
Review: William Wolf Pecan Bourbon
William Wolf Bourbon is made in Holland of all places, and it’s the only product under this curious brand so far. It’s made from American bourbon and infused with natural flavors — but otherwise we know almost nothing about the product except that there’s a cartoon wolf playing a banjo on the label. Presumably this…
Review: Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon 2014 Edition
September is here, which means the second of Four Roses’ annual limited releases have arrived. The 2014 Limited Edition Small Batch release from 4R is a vatting of four different bourbon recipes: 13 year old OBSV, 12 year old OESV, 11 year old OBSF, and 9 year old OBSK. Three of those four, the OB…
