Review: Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez
Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez was released May 2018 as part of the Bacardi Premium Portfolio which also includes Bacardi Anejo Cuatro, Bacardi Reserva Ocho, and Bacardi Gran Reserva Limitada, a 12 year old rum that retails for $100. Overall rum sales have been in decline for years including 2017 where total rum sales where down 1.5%. By contrast the five leading Super Premium rum brands which include Plantation, Ron Zacapa, Diplomatico, Pusser, and Pyrat grew a combined 29% last year. With brands like Grey Goose and Patron already in their product portfolio Bacardi already know the power of premium brands. Currently premium rum makes up 15% of the total rum market. As a comparison 53% of tequila and 43% of whiskey sold is in the premium category. Bacardi Gran Reserva Diez is made from high grade sugarcane molasses, and purified water. It is fermented with La Levadura a proprietary single strain yeast. The spirit is column distilled and American oak barrel aged for a minimum ten years. Unlike some of their rum competitors who use an age statement to refer to the oldest rum in the blend, the Bacardi age statement refers to the minimum age. Read more 
Review: Enchanted Rock Vodka
Enchanted Rock Vodka is made at the Rebecca Creek Distillery in San Antonio Texas. The distillery was founded by Steve Ison in 2009. The Rebecca Creek Distillery also produces Enchanted Rock Peach Vodka, Rebecca Creek Whiskey, and Texas Ranger Whiskey. Enchanted Rock is named for the pink granite mountain located about 17 miles north of Fredricksburg Texas. It is said to be haunted by ghosts. Enchanted Rock Vodka is crafted in small batches. The hearts of the distillate are made from corn and distilled in a Christian Carl copper pot still. The spirits then enter in vapor form under pressure into a modern 6 plate copper column still where the spirit is distilled the functional equivalent of 10 times. The flavor is rounded out using a proprietary 28 degree frost filtration. The temperature is first reduced to 28 degrees and then the chilled vodka is passed under pressure through 25 microfiber paper filters. Pure limestone filtered water is blended to reduce to proof. Read more
Review: American Anthem Vodka
American Anthem Vodka was released by Diageo May 2018. Diageo already produces the Smirnoff, Ketel One, and Ciroc brands. For every bottle of American Anthem Vodka sold, Diageo will donate $1 to charities supporting military personnel and their families. American Anthem is 5 times distilled from corn grown in Iowa and Indiana. With a retail list price of $14.99 for a 750ml bottle, I purchased my bottle for $9.99, American Anthem appears to be positioned at a price point at or below market leader Smirnoff. This has been a fast growing segment, as the comparably priced New Amsterdam and Platinum 7X have been two of the fastest growing vodka brands in recent years. Read more
Review: Ja Ja Blanco Tequila
Ja Ja Blanco Tequila was just released along with Ja Ja Reposado. Ja Ja Anejo will follow near the end of 2018. Ja Ja is pronounced ha ha. The Ja Ja brand was created by Elliot Tebele, Maurice Tebele, and Martin Hoffstein. Elliot Tebele is the founder and creator of Jerry Media which has more than 50 million followers. It is produced in small batches at the La Corfradia distillery. This distillery produces several brands of tequila including La Corfradia, Calende, Bonita, Casa Noble, Grand Mayan, Inocente, Luna Sueno, and Senor Rio. Ja Ja Blanco Tequila is made from 100% agave grown for 7-8 years. The pina’s are slow cooked in brick ovens for 32 hours, then rested for 8 hours. Once extracted the agave juice is naturally fermented for 72 hours and then triple distilled in copper lined pot stills. Read more
Review: New Amsterdam Grapefruit Vodka
New Amsterdam Grapefruit Vodka was just released. This is their tenth flavored vodka. At one time they also made a Citron Flavored Vodka. Grapefruit is a very popular flavored vodka in fact this is the 24th Grapefruit Flavored vodka I’ve reviewed. Only Raspberry 25, Peach 25, and Orange 30 have been reviewed more. Launched in 2011 the New Amsterdam Vodka brand has seen meteoric growth with last years sales surpassing 5.36 million cases. New Amsterdam is now the third best selling brand of vodka sold in the US. Only Tito’s and Smirnoff sell more. New Amsterdam Grapefruit Vodka is 5-times distilled from the finest grains , then filtered three times. Natural ruby red grapefruit and other natural flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Volcan De Mi Tierra Blanco Tequila
Volcan De Mi Tierra Blanco Tequila was created in a 50/50 partnership between Moet Hennessy and the Gallardo Family. Moet Hennessy is the parent company of several of the worlds most popular wine and spirits brands including Dom Perignon, Moet and Chandon, Hennessy, Glenmorange, and Belvedere. Maestra de Tequila Anna Maria Romero Mena was recruited to create the tequila. While they certainly had the resources to acquire their choice of any existing tequila brand, Moet Hennessy decided to build their own brand. After 2 1/2 years, 177 batches, and 27 different bottle designs, Volcan De Mi Blanco Tequila was ready for sale. The final product is made from a blend of 75% slow roasted Lowland agave cooked for 44 hours, and 25% Highland agave baked for 12 hours. Each agave takes 3250 days to ripen before it is ready for harvest. After cooling, the agave is crushed and fermented in wooden tanks with Champaign and Rum yeast. The spirit is first distilled in a copper still and again in a stainless steel still. The tequila rests for 30 days prior to bottling. Read more
Review: Kirkland Irish Country Cream
Kirkland Irish Country Cream is sold at Costco Wholesale stores in 1.5 liter plastic bottles, in states that do not allow the sale of spirits. I picked up this bottle on a recent trip to North Carolina. It is produced and bottled by Patrick Piper and Sons in Pewaukee Wisconsin. This is the same location RumChata is produced. The Irish Country Cream designation instead of Irish Cream, is given to Irish cream liqueurs produced with wine instead of Irish Whisky. Kirkland Irish Country Cream is made with dessert wine, dairy cream, natural, and artificial flavors, and caramel color.
Review: Absolut Grapefruit Vodka
Absolut Grapefruit Vodka was just released. If you thought Absolut already had a grapefruit flavored vodka, you would be correct. Absolut Ruby Red was one of the first grapefruit flavored vodka’s when in was launched in 2006. Absolut Ruby Red is still shown as available on the Absolut Vodka website. Absolut Grapefruit is crafted from a vodka base made from Swedish winter wheat sourced from 450 local farms. One Kilo of wheat is needed to create one liter of vodka. The wheat is milled onsite and blended with water and a proprietary yeast, and fermented for 2 days. A continuous distillation process is used with steel column stills and copper plates. The vodka 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 vodka to reduce to proof. All natural flavors are infused with the vodka. No sugar is added before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Captain Morgan Apple Smash
Captain Morgan Apple Smash was just released. This is their fifth cannon ball shaped bottle of flavored rum designed to be served chilled in a shot glass. The other flavors include Cannon Blast, Jack-O’Blast, Watermelon Smash, and LoCoconut. Each is made with Caribbean rum that is shipped to the US where natural flavors and certified colors are blended before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Nooku Bourbon Cream
Nooku Bourbon Cream was introduced in Colorado, December 2016. It is now available in 14 states, with more to follow. Nooku is inspired by a Native American name for the white snowshoe rabbit. Nooku Bourbon Cream is crafted using two ingredients, Old Elks Bourbon and real dairy cream from Creamy Creations in Batavia New York. Old Elks Bourbon is produced in Fort Collins Colorado at Old Elk Distillery with malted barley, rye, and corn. Four times more malted barley is used than conventional bourbon recipes call for. The Old Elk Distillery was launched by Curt and Nancy Richardson, the founders of Otterbox and Blue Ocean Enterprises. The bourbon is aged two years in new charred white oak barrels. Traditional proofing takes 24-48 hours. The slow cutting technique used to produce Old Elk Bourbon occurs over several periods, and takes significantly longer. Read more