Review: Stoli Cucumber Vodka
Stoli Cucumber Vodka will soon be arriving at local liquor stores nationwide. This is the first new flavored vodka Stoli has produced using their signature Stolichnaya vodka base since 2012. They did launch Stoli Crushed Pineapple and Stoli Crushed Ruby Red Grapefruit, two gluten free vodka’s made from corn and buckwheat that are flavored with natural fruit juice and bottled at 60 proof last year. Stoli Crushed Mango is coming soon. Stoli Cucumber is made from estate grown winter wheat, from fields in the Tambov region surrounding their distillery. The spirit is triple distilled. Pure artesian well water is blended to reduce to proof and the vodka is quadruple filtered through a series that includes quartz, Siberian Birch, and tightly woven cloth. While most flavored vodka’s are bottled at 70 proof, and some as low as 60 proof, Stoli Cucumber Vodka weighs in at 75 proof. Read more 
Review: Skyy Infusions Sun Ripened Watermelon Vodka
Skyy Infusions Sun Ripened Watermelon Vodka will soon be released. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle a little early. This is not the first watermelon flavored vodka Skyy has produced. Three years ago Skyy Vodka released a 60 proof line of flavored vodka under the Skyy Barcraft product line. One of those three flavors was Watermelon Fresca. The Barcraft line is no longer produced. Sun Ripened Watermelon is the one of 15 flavors in the current Skyy Infusions line up. Watermelon continues to be a popular flavor ingredient for both beer and spirits. This will be my 13th Watermelon flavored vodka review. The vodka base is made from Midwestern grown wheat quadruple distilled in Pekin Illinois. Once in San Jose the spirit is triple filtered through California limestone and blended with water filtered through reverse osmosis. Natural watermelon flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum
The Real McCoy 5 Year Old Rum is produced at the Four Square Distillery in Barbados. The Real McCoy brand of rum is named for Bill McCoy the pioneer rum runner of the Prohibition era. He was the first person to load his boat with rum and sail up to New York in January of 1920. He parked his boat 3 miles of the coast in international waters so as to obey the law. His rum was never cut with turpentine, wood alcohol, prune juice or water as many others did. His rum soon became know as the Real McCoy because it was unadulterated. Bailey Pryor while producing a documentary of the life of Bill McCoy found the distillery that supplied Bill McCoy his rum. After speaking with forth generation master distiller Richard Seale he launched the Real McCoy brand. The rum is created in a classic dry rum style which was the style Bill McCoy sold from his ocean parked boat. The rum is made from black strap molasses, yeast, and pure spring water. After a 44 hour fermentation in a closed top tank, the molasses wine is split in half. Half is distilled in a 2 column Coffey still and the other half is distilled in a 1500 liter copper pot still. The rums are aged separately for 5 years in heavy char American oak bourbon barrels. Once mature these rums are blended. Barbados spring water is then mixed to reduce to 80 proof. No sugars, perfumes, or coloring are added before bottling. Read more
Review: Tullamore DEW XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish
Tullamore DEW XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish is made with the same recipe as Tullamore DEW Original. It is triple distilled and a triple blend of pot still, malt and grain Irish whiskey. The whiskey is finished in first fill XO rum casks previously used to age Demerara rum. Tullamore DEW XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish pays tribute to the role of Irish immigrants in the development of rum in the Caribbean in the 17th century. This is not the first Tullamore DEW finished in a second cask. They also produce Tullamore DEW Cider Cask Finish. Read more
Review: Two Founders 80 Acres Vodka
Two Founders 80 Acres Vodka was recently released. I found my bottle at Total Wine and More. Two Founders is one of several vodka varieties that are bottled in Princeton Minnesota that I only seem to find at Total Wine and More stores. Two Founders is made from corn grown in Iowa, presumable on an 80 acre farm. The spirit is distilled five times in Iowa before heading to Princeton Minnesota to be bottled at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Bacardi 8 Anos Rum
Bacardi 8 Anos Rum was originally created in 1862. It was the exclusive party rum of the Bacardi family for over 130 years, and still today it only exists in very limited stock. The Bacardi Company got its start when Don Facundo Bacardi Masso purchased a distillery in 1862 in Cuba for 3500 pesos. They continued producing rum in Cuba until 1960 when their distillery was seized as part of the Cuban Revolution. Since then they have been distilling their rum in Puerto Rico. This molasses based rum is fermented with a single strain of yeast, Le Levadura Bacardi. After distilling, the spirit is aged for a minimum 8 years in oak barrels, and then blended by their Master Blender. Read more
Review: Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey
Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey is a brand that has been around since 1886 when John Power and Son Distillery began bottling this whiskey with a gold label. Until then casks of whiskey were sold to merchants and bonders who would bottle the whiskey. The Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey produced today is a blend of triple distilled pot still whiskey and grain whiskey. Both are matured in American oak casks, non chill filtered, blended, and bottled at 86.4 proof. The previous version was chill filtered and weighed in at 80 proof. To see my thoughts on Powers Gold Label 80 Proof, check out yesterdays review. Read more
Review: Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey 80 Proof
Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey 80 proof is no longer produced for the US market. It appears it is still available for sale in Ireland. In December 2013 Powers Gold Label was rebranded and reformulated with new packaging and an increased 86.4 proof. This was accomplished by eliminating the use of chill filtration. This was the second reformulation of the brand which started life as a single pot still whiskey but was reinvented as a blend of pot still whiskey and grain whiskey many years ago. I was lucky enough to have an unopened bottle of the 80 proof to compare with the new 86.4 proof Powers Gold Label. Look for that review tomorrow. James Power founded his distillery in 1791 at John Lane near the western gate of Dublin City. By 1821 his son John changed the name to John Power and Son. In 1886 Powers began bottling their whiskey with a gold Label on the bottle, becoming the first Dublin distiller to bottle their own whiskey. Soon this became known as Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey. In 1975 distillation moved to Midleton Ireland with the merger of John Power and Son, John Jameson and Son, and Cork Distilleries Company. Powers Gold Label is made from a blend of triple distilled pot still and grain whiskey. Both are aged in American oak casks, chill filtered, blending, and bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey
Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey is made with pure Irish spring water and malted barley. It is triple distilled from a single barley malt in copper pot stills and aged for a minimum of 12 years in bourbon oak casks. The brand is named after the Knappogue Castle that was originally built in 1467. Knappogue translates to, Hill of the kiss. In 1966 Mark Edwin Andrews purchased the castle which at the time was in ruins. He and his wife, a prominent architect embarked on an ambitious task of restoring the structure to it’s original state of glory and grandeur. At that time Mark also began buying casks of fine pot still whiskey from top distilleries in Ireland. The casks were further aged and bottled under the Knappogue Castle label. In 2003 Castle Brands acquired the brand and in 2010 they launched Knappogue Castle 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Read more
Review: Tullamore DEW Irish Whiskey
Tullamore DEW Irish Whiskey is named for the town and distillery where the whiskey was first produced, and the initials of Daniel E. Williams, who worked his way up from stable boy of the distillery to become the owner. The Original Tullamore Distillery was opened in 1829 by Michael Molloy in the heart of the town of Tullamore. The Tullamore Distillery closed its doors in the 1950’s and the brand was sold to John Power and Son in the 1960’s. With the merger of John Power and Son, John Jameson and Son, and Cork Distilleries, production was moved to the New Midleton Distillery. In 2010 the Tullamore brand was sold to William Grant and Sons. After 60 years, production returned to the town of Tullamore with the opening of the brand new Tullamore Distillery. Tullamore DEW is produced with all three types of Irish Whiskey, single grain, single malt, and pot still. The whiskey is triple distilled and aged in three different types of oak barrels. Traditional refill, ex bourbon, and ex sherry. While whiskey produced at this distillery matures, Tullamore DEW continues to be made with single grain and pot-still whiskey distilled at the New Midleton Distillery, and single malt whiskey distilled by Bushmill. Read more