Too smooth to shoot
The days of shooting bad tequila with salt and a lime are nearing an end. The tequila category has shaken off its sordid past and reemerged better than ever, with renewed interest in the spirit and a spate of new labels on store shelves. This is good news for discerning drinkers, who are rediscovering classics [...]
Drink like a navy man
July 31, 1970 was a tough day for British sailors as the 300 year tradition of daily rum rations ended. With the market for British Royal Naval Rum drying up, remaining stocks were stored away in warehouses laying mostly undisturbed, only brought out for state functions and royal weddings. Luckily for us, in the true [...]
Double or Nothing
We love our single malt whisky. So when we came across the Highland & Island Malt Stack ($115) from the Scottish “liquid deli” Demijohn, pinching — nay punching — was required to ensure we were still among the living. The top bottle contains a relatively unknown 12 year old Linkwood Single Malt from Elgin, that’s [...]
Shaking Up the Vodka Pack
Eristoff’s roots are in Georgia; that’s the former Soviet Union satellite, not the birthplace of MLK Jr. and Cee Lo Green. It was created by Georgian royalty back in 1806 when times were tough, and since the country is known for its wolf population, the spirit inherited the mascot. We bring up this little Discovery [...]
Sweet Restitution
Vodka brands have been adding fruit flavoring to their spirits for years in hopes of coaxing mixologists to shell out for another fifth, or at least get the squeamish drinking something. So it makes perfect sense the same trend would trickle down to white lightening. The sweetness from Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Aged Fruit Moonshine($30) [...]
Caribbean in a Bottle
It’s a commonly known fact that the months between New Years and Spring are dreary and depressing, especially for those of us on the East Coast. Being strong believers in self medication taking action, Gear Patrol set out to find a stiff drink to bust our winter blues, and came back with the Appleton Estate [...]
A Comeback 300 Years in the Making
Nolet Silver Gin ($50) is a new brand of gin from a family that’s been making the spirit since 1691. Ironically, the Nolet distillery is more widely known today for its contribution to the world of vodka. That’s because 10th generation Carolus J.J. Nolet got the idea to break with tradition and make the Russian [...]
Making the Best From a Bad Situation
Attaching something like “Snow Phoenix” to the name of an otherwise perfectly good bottle of single malt might lead many to think the master distillers have been reading a bit too much Harry Potter after work. The truth is, this special run is actually the result of disaster caused by record snowfall back in January [...]
Time flies when you’re having Rum
“A rum to put a beast in your belly”, The Kraken has washed onto the market and is bringing out the inner pirate in us all. An alternative from name brand rums, the Kraken ($20) provides a flavor that’s richer and stronger than the captain, and weighs in at a hefty 94 proof. Caramel sugars [...]
The Wormwood Tradition
The Leopold Brothers believe in a strong sense of tradition and it is understood that tradition is what makes their spirits so good. The Leopold Brothers Absinthe Verte ($67) is crafted from a 100-year-old recipe of anise, grande wormwood, and sweet fennel along with a number of “proprietary botanicals.” The spirit is distilled in a [...]
What's the Shiny Exterior Hiding?
Absinthe has a reputation for many things. Some of them are accurate and justified, others are bogus. Fenom certainly hopes to capitalize one way or the other on the allure of this infamous mind altering substance with their so-called “Modern Absinthe”. Brought to our attention by Liqurious, it’s described by the company as the first [...]
An Iconic Bottle Meets an Iconic Director
As a tribute to one of the city’s most renowned boroughs and film makers, ABSOLUT has put out a limited edition flavor known as ABSOLUT Brooklyn. Developed in conjunction with Spike Lee, the bottle’s unique cover pays homage to the stoop where the director grew up, as well as the borough’s pace of life where [...]
Appealing to Geek Drinkers Everywhere
Companies like Procter & Gamble have known for years that distinct packaging can make or break a product’s success on the shelf. Alcohol makers certainly aren’t newbies in this game either, but the creators of Medea Vodka appear to be hell bent on upping the industry’s game. That’s because each bottle includes an integrated LED [...]
And You Thought Wisconsin Only Made Cheese
Typically when the word island comes up in the same sentence as Gin, most people immediately prepare for some stogy tale of a famous English Dry Gin house, and its long standing cultural significance to our juniper guzzling, eating-baked-beans-with-their-eggs cohorts from across the pond. The story of Death’s Door Gin however is actually nothing of [...]
Don't Get Your Hopes Up, It's Not Infused
Tequila fans take note. Yeyo is a new straight up silver brand made of 100% blue agave grown in Jalisco, Mexico. These plants are cooked in a brick Agave cooker as opposed to aluminum to extract a more natural flavor from the 24 hour process. The firm’s press materials even highlight that classical music is [...]
