Review: Don Abraham Organic Blanco Tequila
Don Abraham Organic Blanco Tequila is produced and bottled by Tequilas Las Americas and imported by Pacific Edge Imports. This is the same distillery that produces El Viejo and Celestial tequila. Today is May 5th, you didn’t think I would be reviewing a scotch today did you? Don Abraham is a tequila I have followed for some time and this is the third different bottle I’ve seen it packaged in. Don Abraham is crafted from 100% blue agave organically grown on a single estate. The agave is hand selected and slow cooked in traditional stone ovens. After a double distillation the tequila is rested for 4 months before bottling. Read more 
Review: Stoli Crushed Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka
Stoli Crushed Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka is one of two new vodka varieties Stoli just released in their new Crushed line of flavored vodka. The other flavor is Crushed Pineapple. These are the first new flavored vodkas Stoli has launched since 2012. This follows Absolut introducing Absolut Lime, their first new flavor in four years. Three Olives will be releasing a Watermelon and a Cucumber Lime flavor later this summer. There is no doubt there are far fewer flavored vodka’s varieties on the market today, but distillers are focusing on new flavors in 2017 to drive growth. Stoli has completely redesigned their flavored vodka with the Crushed line. Corn and buckwheat replace the winter wheat used for the vodka base, and real juice and color have been added. The bottles shape and labeling have been updated and the vodka has been reduced to 60 proof. Why? Real juice seems to be the new buzz word in flavored vodka, replacing natural flavor. Much of the credit for this goes to Deep Eddy and their release of Deep Eddy Ruby Red in 2013. For the record Charbay and Belvedere both used real grapefruit in flavoring their grapefruit vodka prior to the release of Deep Eddy Ruby Red, but Deep Eddy got the real juice ball rolling. Color is also growing in popularity in flavored vodka’s. Once reserved for the bargain basement vodka brands, color is now seen as more natural looking, even though certified color is added to most colored vodka’s. Stoli Crushed Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka starts with a vodka base made from 88% corn and 12% buckwheat. The vodka is triple distilled and quadruple filtered. Pure artesian spring water is blended to reduce to 80 proof. Real juice, natural flavor, and certified color are blended before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Stoli Crushed Pineapple Vodka
Stoli Crushed Pineapple Vodka was just released along with Stoli Crushed Grapefruit. Unlike their other flavored vodkas, that are made from a winter wheat vodka base, Stoli Crushed is made with a blend of 88 percent corn and 12 percent buckwheat harvested from the fertile farm fields of the Tambov region of Russia. The vodka is triple distilled and filtered four times through quartz, sand, and birchwood charcoal. Pure natural spring water from the Latvijas Balzams artesian well in Riva Latvia is blended with the vodka to reduce to 80 proof. Real juice, natural flavors, certified color and FD&C Yellow No. 5 are added before bottling at 60 proof. While this is Stoli’s first Pineapple flavored vodka, Dole Pineapple has been infused with Stoli Vodka for years and sold as a Doli Stoli at one of my favorite steakhouses, The Capital Grill. Read more
Review: Two James 28 Island Vodka
Two James 28 Island Vodka is crafted at the first licensed distillery in Detroit since prohibition. The Two James Distillery was founded in 2012 by David Landrum and Peter Bailey in Corktown, Detroit’s oldest neighborhood. The distillery is built in what was originally a turn of the century donut manufacturing plant. Two James is named for the founder’s fathers, James Bailey and James Landrum. The vodka is named for the 28 islands on the Detroit River. These islands were used as hideouts for bootleggers during prohibition. 28 Island Vodka is made from a blend of 70 percent corn and 30 percent soft winter wheat. Two James is small batch distilled in a 500 gallon copper pot still. Read more
Review: Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist
Coney Island Hard Lemon Lime Twist is one of four hard soda flavors this division of Boston Beer Company currently produces. The other flavors include a Hard Root Beer, Cherry Cream Ale, and Orange Cream Ale. At one time they also made a hard Ginger Ale. I was sorry to see Ginger Ale is no longer featured on the Coney Island website. It scored very high and actually tasted like Ginger Ale, instead of Ginger Beer. Coney Island is also rolling out a new look with their line of hard soda. Gone is the old school bottle label design. In it’s place is the bright colorful label shown here. Hard Lemon Lime Twist is brewed as an ale with natural flavor and caramel color added. Read more
Review: Rock N Roll Cristalino Anejo Tequila
Rock N Roll Cristalino Anejo Tequila is one of three tequila expressions recently released. The others include Platinum Silver, and Mango. Like their Platinum Silver Tequila, Cristalino Anejo is bottled in a glass Gibson Flying V shaped guitar. The patented bottle top known as a roadie contains 50ml of their Platinum tequila. Cristalino Anejo is hand crafted by Master Distiller Jose Aceves and is double distilled, filtered to perfection, and barrel aged for 12 months. Read more
Review: High Noon Lemon Vodka
High Noon Lemon Vodka was just released in Denver Colorado, Madison Wisconsin, and Charleston South Carolina. Test marketing in limited markets has been used for years in the food and beverage industry. Also released is High Noon Ruby Red Grapefruit, and the unflavored High Noon Vodka. The High Noon brand is owned by E&J Gallo, the makers of New Amsterdam Vodka. New Amsterdam Vodka was launched in 2011, and in its first year over one million cases were sold. New Amsterdam continues to be one of the fastest growing vodka brands in the US. High Noon is produced and bottled at the Holladay Distillery in Weston Missouri. This is the distillery that also produces 360 Vodka. High Noon Lemon Vodka is made with a vodka base made from Midwest grown corn. Real Lemon juice and natural flavors are added. As an indication of High Noon’s target market their website claims High Noon Lemon Vodka is made with Vodka, Lemons, Sunshine, Trips to the Beach, Sweet Shades, Big Waves, Fluffy Towels, and Light Breezes Perfect for Chuckin a Frisbee. Read more
Review: Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum
Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum was launched January 2013 along with Papa’s Pilar Dark Rum. The brand is named for Ernest Hemingway’s customized 1934 Wheeler Playmate Cruiser he piloted through the Florida Keys, Cuba, and the Caribbean. Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum is made with a blend of 3-5 year old rum sourced from the Caribbean, Central America, and Florida. Each of these rums is made from molasses and is slowly fermented in temperature controlled conditions. The rum is column distilled and aged in bourbon barrels, and port wine casks. The rums are shipped to the Drum Circle Distilling Company, the makers of Siesta Key Rum, in Sarasota Florida. The barrels of rum are married together in a unique Solera aging and blending process, and then finished in Spanish Sherry casks before bottling at 84 proof. On May 20, 2017 the Papa’s Pilar Rum Key West Distillery and Experience Center opens. Read more
Review: SpikedSeltzer Valencia Orange
SpikedSeltzer Valencia Orange is one of four hard seltzer flavors that were first created in 2012 by Nick Shields who began formulating five gallon batches out of his garage in Westport CT. Nick and his longtime friend and business partner Dave Holmes brought SpikedSeltzer to market in 2013, creating the Hard Seltzer category. SpikedSeltzer Valencia Orange is made from purified water, cold fermented dextrose, crystalline fructose, and natural orange flavor infused and derived from cold pressed citrus essence. The other SpikedSeltzer flavors include Cape Cod Cranberry, Indian River Grapefruit, and West Indies Lime. In September 2016 Anheuser Busch acquired Boathouse Beverages the parent company of SpikedSeltzer. SpikedSeltzer has been contract brewed by North American Breweries and Blues City Brewery, and distribution has been limited, but production is gradually shifting to the Baldwinsville Brewery in New York and SpikedSeltzer will soon be available Nationwide. Read more
Review: Marble Vodka 80
Marble Vodka 80 is made with an original blend of all natural Colorado grains. White wheat and malted barley are distilled in Hazel, a 250 gallon Vendome Copper Pot Still that was crafted in Louisville Kentucky. The vodka is filtered through crushed marble pieces sourced from the Yule quarry located about 20 miles from the distillery. The idea for this distillery started with two mountain family’s, one from the Colorado Rockies and one from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. These in-laws were determined to build an artisan distillery where water and energy conservation for environmental sustainability, is a daily practice. Because of this commitment, the Marble Distillery saves 4.1 million gallons of water per year by recapturing cooling water. Their renewable energy produces 7,270 Kilowatt hours of electricity per year, and their building design and distilling process saves 1.8 billion BTU’s of energy each year. The grains are sourced locally, and the distilled grains are given to ranchers for livestock feed and compost. Read more