Review: La Certeza Blanco Tequila
La Certeza Blanco Tequila is no longer produced but it is still available on a limited basis from some online retailers. La Certeza was imported by Mohawk Distilled Products which was acquired by Heaven Hill Distilleries in 2007. La Certeza Tequila was created by the Beckmann family, one of Mexico’s oldest tequila families. The Beckman family traces its lineage to Jose Antonio de Cuervo. In 1992 Francisco Beckman sold his interest in the family distillery but maintained his interest in the agave fields. In 2004 he opened his own distillery Tierra de Agaves. This is the same distillery that creates the Lunazul line of tequila. La Certeza Blanco is produced with estate grown agave. Once harvested by hand the agave is slow cooked in autoclave ovens. After fermenting the tequila is double distilled in traditional copper pot stills. Read more 
Review: J Wray Gold Rum
J Wray Gold Rum was released in the US along with their Silver rum June 2016. It is made at the Appleton Estate in Jamaica’s number one rum producing distillery, which is also the oldest continuously operated rum distillery in the Caribbean. The Appleton Estate traces its history back to 1655 when the estate was granted to Frances Dickinson’s heirs for their grandfathers service to England during England’s successful capture of Jamaica from Spain. Rum has been produced at this site since 1749. John Wray began distilling and blending rums, and served them to patrons at his Shakespeare Tavern in Kingston. In 1862 his nephew joined him and J Wray and Nephew began its history of producing Jamaican rum. In 1916 the Lindo Brothers and Co. purchased the Appleton Estates, and the company J Wray and his nephew had built. Today the Appleton Estate sits on 11,000 acres with sugar fields, a sugar mill, and a distillery with 5 pot stills and a multi column continuous still. J Wray Gold Rum is crafted from molasses made from estate grown sugar cane and pure limestone filtered water. After distilling, the rum is trucked to Kingston where it is aged and bottled. Read more
Review: Western Son South Texas Prickly Pear Vodka
Western Son South Texas Prickly Pear Vodka is one of seven handcrafted flavor infused vodka’s made at the Western Son Distillery. This distillery is housed in a former panty factory in Pilot Point Texas. The other flavors include Hill Country Peach, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Piney Woods Blueberry, South Plains Cucumber, Hill Country Apricot, and Big Stripe Watermelon. South Texas Prickly Pear is made from their Texas vodka base made from yellow corn and water filtered through reverse osmosis. The vodka is distilled ten times through a 20 foot column still and quadruple filtered. Natural Prickly Pear essence is blended with the original vodka base before bottling at 60 proof. A Prickly Pear is a cactus species native only to the Americas. Read more
Review: J Seeds Apple Cider Whiskey
J Seeds Apple Cider Whiskey as the name would imply is an apple cider flavored whiskey. This whiskey is produced at the Frank-Lin Distillers Products in Fairfield California. Frank-Lin has been in continuous operation since the repeal of prohibition. They offer custom bottling, importing exporting and wholesaling. Beyond Vodka, 8 Seconds Canadian Whisky, and Bellringer Gin are three of the nearly 70 spirits they currently produce. I have found no product details on the J Seeds Apple Cider Whiskey website, their Facebook page, and I have not seen any product review. Read more
Review: Potocki Wodka
Potocki Wodka, pronounce Po-toht-ski Vood-ka, is created from the highest quality rye sourced from fields around their distillery in Central Poland. It is produced in small batches from a family recipe. Fresh from the harvest each August the grain is milled and cooked under pressure. Yeast is then added to start fermentation. The mash goes through two slow distillations in a column still. Pure distilled water is blended to reduce to 80 proof. The unfiltered vodka is left to rest for a few days before bottling. Potocki Wodka was first produced by Alfred Potocki who inherited the Lancut Castle Estate in 1816. The estate included Polands second oldest distillery. Production was stopped in 1944 due to World War 2 and then brought back in 2002 by the Potocki family. Today Jan-Roman Potocki tastes every batch of Potocki Wodka to ensure maximum quality. The Pilawa, a two and a half cross is the Potocki coat of arms, and is prominently featured on each bottle of Potocki Vodka. Read more
Review: Cruzan Tropical Fruit Rum
Cruzan Tropical Fruit Rum was just released. It is one of 23 rum varieties, 16 of them flavored rums, currently produced by Cruzan. In 1760 a sugar mill began crushing sugar cane at the current site of the Cruzan Distillery. Since the early 1800’s the Nelthropp Family has lived on the island of St Croix and worked at this distillery. The eighth generation is currently working at this distillery. Cruzan Tropical Fruit is made from cane molasses and tropical rain water. After a five column distillation the rum is aged in oak barrels. Natural flavors including Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Guava, Lime, and Orange and added before bottling at 42 proof. Read more
Review: Luxardo Limoncello
Luxardo Limoncello was first advertised in 1905. A new formula with 25% more fresh lemon juice and essential oils from the peel of Sicilian lemons was released May 2010. Luxardo currently produces several spirits including Maraschino Liqueur, Sambuca, Amaretto, and Grappa. Girolamo Luxardo built the first Luxardo distillery in 1821 to produce Maraschino Liqueur. Today the sixth generation of the family is still active in the company. Read more
Review: SpikedSeltzer Indian River Grapefruit
SpikedSeltzer Indian River Grapefruit is one of four hard seltzer flavors created in 2012 by Nick Shields in his Westport CT garage. Partnering with Dave Holmes the two launched SpikedSeltzer in 2013 creating the Hard Seltzer product category. Indian River Grapefruit is named for the Indian River Citrus District, a narrow strip of land on the East Coast of Florida stretching about 200 miles from Daytona Beach to West Palm Beach. 75% of Florida’s grapefruit crop is grown here. SpikedSeltzer Indian River Grapefruit is made from purified water and natural ingredients. Natural flavors are then infused. Read more
Review: Bribon Blanco Tequila
Bribon Blanco Tequila was created by Palm Bay International in partnership with Casa Don Roberto. This family has been making tequila since 1840 and opened this distillery in 1924. They currently also produce Don Roberto, Huizache, and the 88 Tequila brands. In Mexico a Bribon was a wildly charismatic and courageous man about town. Bribon Blanco Tequila is made from 100% Blue agave grown for 7-10 years and harvested by hand. Once harvested the agaves are taken to the distillery where they are cooked for 18 hours at 100 degrees Celsius and then shredded. The juice is fermented in tanks at a consistent 32 degrees Celsius using a proprietary yeast developed by Don Roberto. The tequila is double distilled utilizing a process that combines pot still distillate with column still distillate. Read more
Review: Redds Peach Ale
Redds Peach Ale was released in March. It is one of two Limited Pick Special Releases Miller-Coors has planned for 2017. They join Redd’s three year round flavors, Blueberry Ale, Rapsberry Ale, and their original Redds Apple Ale. Redds Peach Ale is available in 6 packs of 12 ounce bottles, 16 ounce cans, and the Redds 12 pack variety pack. Miller-Coors also produces the higher octane 8% Redds Wicked Ale. Combined these two Redds brands have produced 14 flavors. Redds promises a new Wicked Ale sometime this summer. Read more