Category Archives: reviews

Vodka 360

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vodka 360

In the last few weeks, we’ve had the opportunity to try out Vodka 360 and their line of flavors at Simple Cocktails, including this episode of the podcast and this cocktail. Billing their vodka as “Eco Friendly” because of the brand’s commitment to recycling and other green behaviors at McCormick Distilling (the distiller of V360), the brand also offers recycling initiatives tied the the bottle’s glass and swing-top cap.

Vodka 360 is available in a plethora of flavors (11 to date) which range from the traditional to the obscure…glazed donut or buttered popcorn, anyone? Mostly, though, their flavors are of the fruit or dessert variety. We tried the original (unflavored) vodka, plus Huckleberry, Sorrento Lemon and Double Chocolate flavors.

The standard Vodka 360 is a good buy for $20, though if your brand loyalty is elsewhere in that price range, there’s nothing particularly new in the flavor of 360. The environmental initiatives, or even the cool swing-top cap, might be what call some to switch.

The biggest thing we noticed about the flavored Vodka 360s is that the flavors are very intense, bold and obvious. I feel like there are two options for a vodka with this much flavor. First, if you intend to use this in place of a flavored vodka in a traditional recipe (like for citrus vodka in a Cosmo), the Lemon V360 alone will overwhelm the drink, so you should mix it 50/50 with standard, non-flavored vodka.

Another option, though, is to use these flavored vodkas them as replacements for liqueurs in cocktail recipes. They’ll be higher-alcohol, but the flavor intensity is about at liqueur level. Like many other flavored vodkas, V360 sweetens their flavored varieties, so it’s going to be fun to swap out Double Chocolate V360 for Creme de Cacao in a recipe, for instance.

There is no limit to the stunts that a vodka company may pull to get their piece of the large market share that vodka holds in the liquor world, but to take a less selfish position, in this case, and environmental one, is notable.

Let me know in the comments what you think of V360!

Tullamore D.E.W.

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tullamore dew

Tullamore DEW is an actual, ancient whiskey. I say that because, particularly in the United States, Prohibition really short-circuited both the legends and history of all the old whiskey brands. Some refer to legends from long ago featuring George Washington and Lincoln, both many of our modern legendary whiskies (Bulleit comes to mind) are just that – modern.

But back to Tullamore. I always envisioned the dew on the grassy fields of the Emerald Isle when I heard that name, and I’m sure that’s intended, but the DEW in Tullamore is actually names for the original manager of the distillery: Daniel E. Williams. The bottle bears his signature.

Irish whiskies are somewhat of a forgotten element of the spirits world, at least to common folks. They’re an essential element of the Irish Coffee cocktail, but outside of that, it’s usually not called for specifically in a drink. Irish, in my opinion is a real gem though. While I’ve openly struggled with adapting my palate to scotch. The bourbon-Irish transition is an easy one. Irish whiskey is usually distilled more times (traditionally three times vs scotch’s double distillation), and almost never uses peat or smoke in the process. This results in a cleaner, less earthy whiskey that’s more familiar to an American palate.

Tullamore DEW, specifically, has some nice rich caramel with finishes clean and dry. I’ve been enjoying it on the rocks with all nature of holiday-season desserts: pumpkin pie, pecan pie, and pumpkin ice cream. It pairs well with buttery, flaky desserts like this and is a good companion for a cigar, too (because of its cool sweetness).

Ultimately, you owe it to yourself to try an Irish whiskey that’s not Jameson. Not that Jameson is bad in any way, but it’s prolific and just like “big brands” usually do, it appeals to the masses, and isn’t particularly unique. Tullamore DEW is a great example of a historic, classic Irish whiskey and you should definitely have a sip if you get the chance.

 

Bully Boy Old Fashioned

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bully boy old fashioned

At times, I can find myself pretty preachy when it comes to cocktails. You’ll hear my sermons on natural ingredients, fresh juice or using minimal ingredients, both here and on the podcast.

One thing you might hear me say is that you don’t need to buy a cocktail mix when your cocktail only has 3 ingredients! A margarita is the perfect example: just tequila, lime juice, and triple sec. Yet you can get Trader Joe’s Margarita Mix, then you just need to add tequila and triple sec to it. Still just 3 ingredients, so why bother with a mix in this case?

The Old Fashioned is one of the oldest cocktails, and it adheres to the 1806 definition: “a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water, and bitters.” An Old Fashioned is whiskey, bitters, and sugar. So why bottle it if it’s so simple? Well, not everyone has cocktail bitters these days, and sometimes the supposed simplicity of the recipe (from the guy who writes a cocktail blog) isn’t actually so simple for everyone.

There are a few critical details about bottling cocktails, in my opinion:

  • Does it make things easier?
  • Does it taste as good as freshly made?

I’m glad to say that Bully Boy’s Old Fashioned is, in fact, a yes to both. It smells and tastes precisely as an Old Fashioned should. It is definitely easier to “make.” I told Lisa on the podcast recently that this is the sort of bottle that you set in the middle of the table (hopefully with cigars) at a party and it just…disappears because it’s so easy to pour and drink. We debated back and forth the sweetness of this drink. I found it just right – Lisa felt it was a little sweeter than I usually make.

When I serve this Old Fashioned, I tend to just pour it on the rocks in an Old Fashioned glass and drink. No garnish, no fuss. Which, I imagine, is just the way that Bully Boy intended.

 

Whiskey Wedge and Chillsner

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whiskey wedge

Corkcicle has several fun products available for drinkers, from the original Corkcicle product (to keep wine sealed and chilled) to stainless travel coffee mugs and water bottles. Two of their products stand out the most for readers of this blog are the Whiskey Wedge and Chillsner.

The Whiskey Wedge is a drinking glass that you insert a rubber lid into, then fill with water through the lid. You freeze the whole thing, then when you’re ready for a glass of whiskey, remove the lid and you have a 1/2 glass of ice in a wedge. This allows for cooling of your whiskey with slower dilution.

I find the whiskey wedge to be handy (I like ice in my bourbons and ryes) with a few stipulations. If you’re lazy and don’t keep up with wishing, filling and freezing the glass, you may not use it much. For solo sipping every couple of days at home, the Whiskey Wedge is a nice way to cool and slowly dilute your whiskey. Get one from Amazon here.

chillsner

The Chillsner is a stainless steel icicle that you freeze, then insert into a bottled beer to keep it cool as you drink. These are pretty readily available in 2-packs for about $17, though Corckcicle lists the 2-pack on their site for $27.

chillsner closeup

First, let me say that I usually drink beer in a frozen pint glass or mug, so this device has me reverting to drinking out of the bottle. The Chillsner most definitely keeps your beer colder as you drink, plus it adds a larger, smooth lip to your bottle. Once I took an initial sip out of the bottle (so it didn’t overflow) and seated the Chillsner, I found that sometimes I couldn’t seat it right on the bottle, so it would leak a little underneath my lip as I drank. Because these are made from steel, it also ends up making the cost pretty prohibitive, too…you could buy a couple of six packs instead of a couple of Chillsners.

The best fit for this is someone who drinks bottled beer often, but finds their beers getting warm before they finish them. If that describes you, you’ll like the Chillsner!

 

Gonzalez Byass Brandies

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gonzales byass brandies: soberano and lepanto

Gonzalez Byass is primarily known as a wine family in Spain, though they also own several spirits as part of their portfolio, including Flor de Caña rum. Two of their brandy lines are Soberano and Lepanto.

These two, however, are very different brandies. Soberano 5-year, which is about $30 and distilled in a column still (a pretty new way of distilling), is sweet in the smell and candy-corn-like in the flavor. It has no spice or alcohol burn and would make an excellent Sidecar cocktail.

Lepanto is a 12-year-old brandy, distilled in a copper pot still. The price tag reflects its age ($60) and the flavor is quite different than Soberano, with a stronger and spicier flavor than its younger brother, with burn on the finish and sizzle on your tongue. In a vague way, this brandy reminds me of a very old whiskey-barrel-aged tequila – spice mixed with a freshness from the grapes, slightly sour notes in the nose and a vanilla cream flavor on the finish. For the price, you’d be more likely to sip Lepanto than mix it, but it would make an outstanding, complex cocktail if you decided to shake one up. We initially tasted Lepanto on the Simple Cocktails Podcast.

From what I can tell, the Gonzalez Byass family of brandies are just beginning to be distributed in the United States. If you have a chance to try Soberano or Lepanto, let me know what you think in the comments.

 

 

Skyy Vodka

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skyy vodka

It’s not often that I find myself surprised by a liquor, particularly by a vodka. Once you’ve tried several dozen, they all taste pretty similar to each other.

It caught me off guard, then, when we opened and tasted Skyy for the first time on a recent podcast episode. A pretty common staple in bars across America, Skyy is a 20-year-old brand in a familiar cobalt blue bottle, distilled in San Jose, California.

From what I can tell, Skyy is distilled from wheat, which contributes to the surprising sweetness of the vodka. I find it to have a smooth, sweet vanilla flavor, and it’s got more flavor character than the usual “odorless, flavorless” vodka I’m used to.

Vodka is a subtle product, more so than anything that I’ve encountered. The varieties of taste are wide, but overall, the differences in flavor are sometimes difficult to tell. It’s also a pretty polarizing product, ignored by craft cocktail enthusiasts in some cases and yet beloved by lots of drinkers everywhere. In the case of Skyy, it’s a moderately priced ($15), good-tasting vodka that you can find from coast to coast and it’s also a vodka that can easily find it’s rightful place in your home bar.

 

New Holland Spirits

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new holland spirits

New Holland Spirits was relatively unknown to me until I ran into them at Tales of the Cocktail this year and tasted their fantastic orange liqueur (more on that in a minute).

Born out of New Holland Brewery in Michigan, the spirits line is pretty diverse and I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve tried so far, including their Beer Barrel Bourbon. They were generous enough to let us try many of their other spirits. Here’s what we think:

Walleye Rye, $40-50. A rye with more fruitiness than I expected. Spicy, yes, but there’s a lot more dried fruit and sweetness than I’m used to in a rye. I feel like this rye’s fruity flavor is possibly due more to its younger age than what it’s distilled from. It;s fun to use this to make more fruit-forward rye cocktails, like Manhattans.

Knickerbocker Barrel Gin, $35. I love barrel aged gins. They helped me transition from being mostly a gin drinker to whiskey. When you take a sip, this is in the very end of the taste you get a caramel-barrel sweetness that’s really great. We tasted this on an episode of the podcast as well.

Clockwork Orange Liqueur, $30. This is the drink that drew me to New Holland initially. A high-proof (40%) triple sec that can easily be a stand-alone sipper. I know folks who like to drink straight triple secs or curacous while smoking cigars, and this is leaps and bounds better than the $10 bottom-shelf triple secs you see at the grocery store. It’s not too sweet, it’s slightly bitter and spicy. I’ll be saving this bottle for high-end cocktails and for sipping.

As their distillery line is relatively new, there isn’t national distribution of New Holland’s spirits. Mostly available near and in the areas surrounding Holland, Michigan, USA, if you get a chance to try their line, you won’t be disappointed.

 

St. Augustine Distillery New World Gin

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st augustine gin

Hailing from the U.S.’s “oldest city,” St. Augustine Distillery distills New World Gin from sugar cane.

St. Augustine Distillery is based out of St. Augustine, Florida, a city founded in 1565 by the Spanish. The distillery was established in an old ice plant and distills all their products from Florida Cane Sugar. To my knowledge, Florida cane has never made its way into gin. I’ve always associated cane sugar with rum of course, or maybe sodas like Mountain Dew and Pepsi in their “Throwback” line, but gin?

New World Gin has a solid juniper base and a fragrant nose. I was surprised by the powerful but welcome bite that came with the first sip. If bite is your game, then this is the gin for you. The juniper is followed by a blend of orange, lemon, and cassia bark, angelica, and a number of other botanicals. then there’s the Florida cane sugar that adds a sweet and unique quality to New World. There’s a pleasantly sweet, spicy finish and lingering bite in the finish.

New World Gin can be purchased directly at St. Augustine Distillery Co. or on their website for about $30. They also distill Florida Cane Vodka and their Discovery Rum there, and are working to get their product distributed nationally as well.

Brugal Especial Extra Dry Rum

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brugal extra dry rum

It seems every liquor bottle comes with a legend of some sort, and Brugal Rum is no exception. A five-generations-old rum that’s both sourced and produced in the Dominican Republic, Brugal has a line of rums with vary age statements.

For your entry-level $25, you get Brugal Especial Extra Dry. Keenly wrapped in a net of string, Brugal is unique in a way that many silver rums are not: it’s barrel-aged. After distillation, Extra Dry is aged 2-5 years in oak casks, then the color imparted from the casks is filtered back out. Usually a silver rum is not aged, and because of that, it’s not particularly flavorful, maybe a step up from vodka. But in the case of Brugal, you get a huge nose of woodiness, and a spicy, bold, and very dry rum. Though a common rum complaint, you won’t catch anyone saying this particular rum is “too sweet” for them.

As I tend to prefer my Daiquiris to have a lot of character, meaning I prefer to mix them with aged rum, Brugal gives me a great alternative to the usually-murky brownness that you get with aged rum, then allows me to mix a flavorful-yet-light Daiquiri instead.

You may recall from our Tales of the Cocktail interview that Fabian preferred Brugal in his Daiquiris as well! Cheers Fabian!

 

It’s time to talk about Jägermeister

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Jägermeister and Jägermeister spice

Some spirits have a bad reputation. Often, it’s deserved and occasionally it’s more of a guilt-by-association situation. Jägermeister is certainly one of those “bad reputation” spirits, and I think in their case, they fall in to both camps.

First, an origin story. Jäger is an 80-year-old German brand, creators of an herbal liquor that’s a bit like an Italian amaro, a blend of 56 macerated herbs, spices and flavors. Jäger is aged a year as part of its production, then bottled and shipped out.

Now for the uncouth side of Jäger. Remember scantily-clad cocktail waitresses with trays of ice-cold Jäger shots prancing around your local bar? Seen frozen Jäger-branded “shot machines”? How about “Jägerbombs” or “Liquid Heroin”? There’s the fact that they’ve virtually ignored craft cocktail bars, craft cocktail makers, and craft cocktail enthusiasts, too. Continue reading →