Review: Vita Coco Spiked with Captain Morgan
Vita Coco Spiked with Captain Morgan was just released. It joins a crowded field of canned cocktails including brands made by Malibu and Bacardi. The Captain Morgan name should make it easy to gain shelf space. Captain Morgan parent Diageo has enjoyed success creating canned cocktails for several of their brands including Crown Royal, Smirnoff, Ciroc, Ketel One, and Tanqueray. As the name would suggest it is made with Vita Coco the best selling coconut water brand, and Captain Morgan the worlds number one selling spiced rum. Vita Coco Spiked is sold in individual flavor 12 ounce 4 packs. Three flavors are available, Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, and Lime Mojito. Each 12 ounce slim can weigh is with 5% alcohol and 145 calories. By comparison one can of Bacardi Rum Punch tips the scale with 5.9% alcohol and 273 calories, Malibu Pina Colada 7% alcohol and 335 calories. Read more 
Review: Carolans Peanut Butter
Carolans Peanut Butter was announced January 24, National Peanut Butter Day. It will only be available in the US market with a release date early in February. Carolans Peanut Butter is made with Original Carolans Irish Cream as a base. That base is made with farm fresh cream, Irish Whiskey, and naturally harvested honey. No additional ingredients are included on the Carolans Peanut Butter press release but the bottles label states it does not contain peanuts. Carolans is made by Heaven Hill Brands. Heaven Hill produces dozens of brands including Deep Eddy and Burnetts Vodka, Lunazul Tequila, Evan Williams, and Larceny Bourbon and Christian Brothers Brandy. While R.A. Merry Co. produces a Peanut Butter wine based Irish Country Cream under several labels including McGraths, O’Reillys, and Sheelin, Carolans is the first peanut butter flavored Irish Cream liqueur. Read more
Review: White Claw Vodka
White Claw Vodka was just released. It is made from 100% American corn. It is distilled five times and then filtered three times through charred coconut shells at a pressure of 6000 pounds per square foot. The equivalent power exerted by a 30 foot ocean wave. It is bottled in Bardstown Kentucky. They also released a Pineapple, Mango, and Black Cherry flavored vodka. Why has Mark Anthony Brands launched White Claw Vodka? Well there are several reasons why. First, this is not Mark Anthony’s first spirit brand. They already produce BEARFACE Canadian Whisky, Glendalough Irish Whiskey and Irish Gin, and they own Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers. With over 150 brands of hard seltzer on the market today White Claw has seen their market share reduced to 52% and the total market size is not growing like it used to. Finally market research found 50% of White Claw Hard Seltzer drinkers also drink vodka weekly, and 77% of them mix vodka with hard seltzer. So why not produce a vodka your core audience can enjoy mixed with their favorite ice cold can of White Claw. Read more
Review: Dead Drop Artesian Vodka
Dead Drop Artesian Vodka is crafted at Illinois’ oldest standing brewery. The brewery was built in 1857 by German immigrant John S Bielfeldt. The family brewed beer until prohibition when they sold to Head Brewer Carl Ebner Sr. who ran a soda pop bottling plant as a front to a bootleg operation. Soon after the brewery fell under the control of Al Capone who supplied speakeasies far and wide. This brewery not only survived prohibition but also a flood in 1902 and a tornado in 1904. By 2014 the brewery sat in a blighted state of disrepair when Andrew Howell and Jake Weiss purchased the property. After years of restoration and spirit production they opened Thornton Distilling December 5, 2019. Dead Drop is an old Prohibition era bootlegging term. Often times barrels of whiskey would be left at a secret location for pick up when the coast was clear. They recruited Head Distiller Ari Klafter from Privateer Rum to craft their spirits. Thornton Distilling currently produces vodka, gin, pecan whiskey, dark rum, silver rum bourbon, absinthe and Drop Dead Old Fashioned. Other spirits are barrel aging and will be available soon. Dead Drop Artesian Vodka is distilled from 100% corn and proofed using limestone filtered water drawn from the buildings original artesian well. Read more
Review: Gonzalez 1939 Tequila Blanco
Gonzalez 1939 Tequila Blanco is named in honor of Ramona and Francisco Gonzalez who married in 1939 and raised 12 children who worked beside them on their agave farm. Soon a tequila company was born. Today their children and grand children continue the tradition. Gonzalez 1939 is one of four tequila brands produced at Altos Cienega Unidos. 3 Amigos is another and both are sold primarily at Total Wine and More. Gonzalez 1939 is made with agave hand planted and hand picked at the peak of ripeness in the dry season for maximum sweetness. The trimmed pinas are brick oven cooked for 24 hours and the extracted juice is fermented with organic yeast in stainless steel tanks. The spirit is distilled at low temperature in stainless pot stills. Read more
Review: White Claw Pineapple Vodka
White Claw Pineapple Vodka was just released along with White Claw Mango, Black Cherry, and White Claw Premium, unflavored vodka. This is not Mark Anthony Groups first spirit launch. They currently produce BEARFACE Whisky, Glendalough Irish Whiskey, and Irish Gin, and several spirits including a 100% rye vodka at Dillon’s Small Batch Distillers. White Claw vodka is made from 100% American corn distilled 5 times then filtered three times with charred coconut shells. The filtration process is pressurized to 6000 pounds per square foot to simulate the power exerted from a thirty foot wave. Natural pineapple flavor is infused by White Claw Spirits Master Blender and Ambassador Andres Faustinelli. Andres is also the Master Blender of BEARFACE Canadian Whisky. Read more
Review: Baileys Vanilla Mint Shake
Baileys Vanilla Mint Shake will soon be landing on your favorite liquor store shelves. It is one of 13 Baileys Irish Cream varieties now available in the US market. The UK only offers six. With 12 flavors already on board I’m a little surprised mint isn’t one of them, but Baileys Vanilla Mint Shake is Bailey’s third different mint flavored Irish cream liqueur, following the previously made Baileys Mint Chocolate, and Bailey with Hint of Mint Chocolate. I have to admit when I think “vanilla mint shake” the first thing that comes to mind is McDonald’s seasonal Shamrock Shake. McDonalds makes this shake with vanilla soft serve ice cream and mint syrup. Baileys Vanilla Mint Shake is made with Irish Whiskey, fresh dairy cream, Irish spirits, and natural vanilla, mint and chocolate flavors. Read more
Review: White Claw Peach Hard Seltzer
White Claw Peach Hard Seltzer was just released. My initial thought was to tag this review White Claw Peach but with the recent release of four varieties of White Claw vodka, all future White Claw reviews will need to distinguish between vodka and hard seltzer. Peach is the thirteenth flavor of Original White Claw hard seltzer and currently the only flavor not sold as part of a 4 flavor 12 can variety pack. It is sold in individual flavor 6 packs. This is White Claws first new flavor in their Original Line of hard seltzer since they replaced Mango with Passion Fruit in the White Claw Variety Pack No. 2. WC Peach is made with purified carbonated water, cane sugar alcohol, peach juice concentrate, cane sugar, and natural flavors. Read more
Review: Chief Greenland 260 Vodka
Chief Greenland 260 Vodka is crafted by Tall Ship Distillery and named in Memory of Greenland New Hampshire Police Chief Michael Maloney. He lost his life April 12 2012 in the line of duty, 8 days before his retirement. He was also the brother in law of Tall Ship owner John Pantelakos. Maloney wore badge #260. John opened the distillery August 2014 and named it after the Tall Ships that once brought liquor to the New Hampshire area. Master Distillery crafts five varieties of rum and Chief Greenland Vodka in a 250 gallon all copper still, hand built by owner John Pantelakos. CG 260 vodka is made from molasses and it is distilled four times. Read more
Review: Magic Rabbit Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whiskey
Magic Rabbit Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whiskey is crafted at Cleveland Whiskey. Yes another peanut butter whiskey, but today is National Peanut Butter Day. Cleveland Whiskey was founded in 2009 by Tom Lix. Tom worked with MAGNET, an incubator in Ohio that focuses on manufacturing companies to developed a process to accelerate the aging process of whiskey. This process starts with sourced whiskey aged six months in charred American oak barrels. The whiskey is put in stainless tanks. The whiskey barrel is cut up, processed, and put into the same tank. The spirit is agitated and undergoes a series of differences in pressure to squeeze in and out of the wood pores. The process is complete in one week. The company has since experimented with a series of different woods to produce unique flavor profiles. Another experiment started with a group that combined chocolate nibs from the Ivory Coast of Africa and the mountains of Peru, vanilla sourced from Papua New Guinea, Mexico, and Madagascar, pecans grown in California and Texas, fresh cream from local dairies, and peanuts for Georgia farms with their sourced whiskey. The result is Magic Rabbit Chocolate and Peanut Butter Whiskey. Read more