Review: Trader Joes Blanco Tequila
Trader Joes Blanco Tequila is sold exclusively at Trader Joes stores. As Traders Joes has expanded their footprint they have expanded their portfolio of privately branded spirits. Trader Joes Blanco is currently made at Destiladora Gonzalez Gonzalez, NOM 1143. This distillery also produces El Mayor and Exotico tequila. TJ’s Blanco replaces the previously sold Trader Joes Silver Tequila that was made at Premium de Jalisco, NOM 1558. Little information is available about this tequila including the region where the agave is harvested. Read more 
Review: Sugarlands Shine Talladega 50th Anniversary Corn Whiskey
Sugarlands Shine Talladega 50th Anniversary Corn Whiskey was just introduced. It is a Limited Edition release, as the 50th Anniversary tag would suggest. Sugarlands Distilling Company is the Official Moonshine of NASCAR and the primary sponsor of the 2019 NASCAR Truck Series at Talladega Superspeedway. The Talladega Superspeedway hosted its first race on September 14, 1969. The track is NASCAR’s biggest, steepest, and fastest venue. The Sugarlands Distillery grinds their own grain and distill their products onsite in Gatlinburg Tennessee. Their corn whiskey is made from Tennessee white corn. Read more
Review: Bedlam Vodka
Bedlam Vodka was released June 2017, but the story starts in the mid 1800’s during the Irish Potato famine. Because of the scarcity of potatoes, and to avoid paying the corn tax, the ancestors of co-founder Scott Russ imported rice and created a poitin recipe. His family later tweaked this recipe during prohibition to produce a moonshine sold in Alabama and Georgia. Scott heard these stories and more importantly, learned the recipe from a relative who helped produce the moonshine as a child. This recipe served as a starting point in crafting Bedlam Vodka. Bedlam is named for the region in Ireland where Scotts family first began making their Poteen. It is distilled from long grain white rice, harvested in Arkansas and Louisiana at Graybeard Distillery in Durham North Carolina. The rice arrives in 2000 pound totes. It takes 1.5 pounds of long grain rice to produce one bottle of Bedlam Vodka. After the rice is cooked down to a mash, it is fermented with a proprietary yeast for 9-11 days. 15 different strains of yeast were tried before selecting this one. A single distillation follows in a unique custom built cube chamber reflux column still made in the Netherlands. The spirit is gently carbon filtered only once. Water filtered through reverse osmoses is blended to reduce to proof and the vodka rests for 15 days before bottling. Bedlam is a true grain to glass vodka. The rice enters the distillery as a grain, and 25 days later leaves the distillery bottled at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Kirkland Silver Tequila
After a brief absence, Kirkland Silver Tequila is back on the shelves at Costco. If you think the bottle looks a little different, it does. Kirkland Silver Tequila is also now distilled at a different distillery, La Madrilena. It had been distilled at Fabrica de Tequila Finos, so I expect the taste to be different also. La Madrilena was founded in 1911 in Totolan Jalisco Mexico. They produce several tequila’s, including Piedra Azul, and Xicote. Kirkland Silver is double distilled from 100% Weber Blue Agave grown in the Highland region. It is still sold in a 1.75L bottle, and priced under $20. Read more
Review: Novo Fogo Silver Cachaca
Novo Fogo Silver Cachaca is one of the worlds most earth friendly spirits, and as such they are the ideal spirit to review today on Earth Day. Cachaca, or Brazilian rum as it is also known, is made from sugar cane similar to rhum Agricole, and not the molasses used to produce most Caribbean rum. Novo Fogo is crafted from organic sugar cane at a zero waste distillery built into the slope of a hill so the liquids can flow from room to room by gravity instead of motorized pumps. The sugar cane is hand cut with machetes and immediately transported to the distillery. The cane is pressed within hours. The juice contains about 15% sugar. The dried up sugar cane pulp is used as fuel to fire stills and also as a natural compost to fertilize the fields. Once the sugarcane juice has been filtered, wild yeast cultivated from their own cane is added to a steel tank and fermented for 24 hours, producing a wine. The sugarcane wine is distilled in a copper pot still. Only the heart of the spirit is captured, yielding 130 liters of cachaça. The cachaca rests in stainless steel tanks for 1 year to smoothen without changing its flavor. Novo Fogo is not chill filtered, and filled in recycled glass bottles. Read more
Review: Effen Yuzu Citrus Vodka
Effen Yuzu Citrus Vodka was just released. It joins a flavor lineup that includes, Green Apple, Raspberry, Black Cherry, Cucumber, Blood Orange, and Rose. Yuzu fruit originated in China, and grows to the size of a tangerine. The Effen vodka base is made from premium wheat grown in Northern Holland. Effen uses a continuous distillation process where the liquid circulates within giant stainless steel columns and is effectively distilled hundreds of times. Heating during distillation occurs at temperatures below 85 degrees creating a vodka without any trace of burnt sugar. Effen is filtered 5 times through active carbon. Pure spring water filtered through reverse osmosis is blended with the vodka for several days to reduce to proof. Natural yuzu and citrus flavors are infused before bottling at 75 proof in a yellow polymer sleeved bottle. Read more
Review: New Amsterdam Gluten Free Vodka
New Amsterdam Gluten Free Vodka was just released. The bottles painted trim is brown for those keeping track at home. For those unfamiliar with New Amsterdam, their flavored vodka comes in bottles matching the fruit flavors with corresponding bottle trim colors. NA Gluten Free joins a vodka lineup that includes 9 flavored vodka’s, a 100 proof vodka, and their Original New Amsterdam Vodka. These vodka’s are all made from “the finest grains”. No specific grains are listed. New Amsterdam Gluten Free Vodka is made from “the finest corn” grown in the heartlands. It is distilled five times and meticulously filtered three times before bottling at 80 proof. Only Smirnoff and Tito’s sell more vodka in the US. Last year New Amsterdam sold over 5 million cases of vodka. Not bad considering their first bottle was sold in 2011. Read more
Review: Absolut Juice Strawberry Edition
Absolut Juice Strawberry Edition was just released along with an Apple Edition. The bottles label hints at a seasonal release, with Summer notched for each of these two flavors. If you are a fan of flavored vodka’s, I’m sure you have already noticed several real fruit juice infused flavored vodka’s. Absolut Strawberry is made from Swedish winter wheat sourced from 450 local farms. One kilo of wheat is needed to produce one liter of vodka. The wheat is milled onsite, blended with water, a proprietary yeast, and fermented for 2 days. A continuous distillation process is used with steel column stills and copper plates. The spirit is filtered once through a mesh filter. Pure deep well water that comes from naturally filtered aquifers is softened through reverse osmosis and then blended with the spirit to reduce to proof. 5% real strawberry juice, and natural flavors are infused with the vodka before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Ciroc Summer Watermelon Vodka
Ciroc Summer Watermelon Vodka was just released. Summer Watermelon is a Limited Edition flavor. It joins a flavor lineup that already includes 9 year round flavors. Last years Limited Edition flavor, Summer Colada is still available, while supplies last. To create Summer Watermelon Sean “Diddy” Combs worked with DJ Khaled and Diageo to develop the flavor profile. The vodka base is made from a blend of Ugni Blanc and Mauzac Blanc Grapes. The juice is made into wine. The wine is distilled four times in stainless column stills by Master Distiller Jean-Sebastien Robicquet at his 500 year old family owned Maison Villevert Distillery. A fifth distillation follows in a traditional custom copper pot still at Distillerie de Chevanceaux in the South of France. The vodka is infused with a blend of watermelon and natural flavors before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Bacardi Lime Rum
Bacardi Lime Rum was just released. It is Bacardi’s 9th flavored rum. The other flavors include Limon, Coconut, Dragonberry, Pineapple, Mango, Raspberry, Banana, and Grapefruit. Bacardi Lime is made from a molasses rum base. The molasses is fermented for 30 hours with a single strain of yeast, Le Levadura Bacardi, in closed fermentation tanks. The fermented molasses is split. Some is column distilled, and some beer distilled. Each is aged separately in charred American white oak barrels previously used to age bourbon. Once mature the rums are blended and filtered through a mix of charcoal made from tropical woods and coconut shells. Natural flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more