Review: R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum
R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum is crafted at the Foursquare Distillery on the Caribbean Island of Barbados. The odd shaped black bottle is designed to look like the old style leather flask pirates used to transport their rum. The thumb indent molded into the glass bottle actually feels more comfortable when drinking pirate style, aka straight from the bottle, as opposed to pouring into a glass. It is named for Richard Seale the Great Grandson of Reginald Leon Seale, who founded the Foursquare Distillery in 1926. Richard Seale is also the Master Distiller who created R L Seales 10 Year Old Rum. The Foursquare Distillery crafts several rums including the Doorly, Real McCoy, and 10 Cane line of rums, and the distillery is located on the site of an old plantation that dates back to the early 1600’s. Read more 
Review: Saint James Heritage Rum
Saint James Heritage Rum is made with a meticulous blend of rums carefully selected from six of the finest Caribbean Islands by Master Blender Myriam Bredas. These rums are distilled and aged for 12 months in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Trinidad, Jamaica, and Barbados. Some of these rums are distilled with molasses, and some with fresh pure sugarcane juice. Saint James was born in Saint-Pierre de la Martinique in 1765 from the hands of Reverend Father Edmund Lefebure. This dignified priest crafted a cane spirit called Guildive. Today this spirit is known as Rhum Agricole. Saint James continues to produce rum from fresh pure sugarcane juice, and one of these rums is included in Saint James Heritage Rum. Read more
Review: Greenbar Tru Lemon Vodka
Greenbar Tru Lemon Vodka is crafted from a vodka base made from organic wheat and distilled in a continuous column still at the Greenbar Distillery in Los Angeles California. After a gentle charcoal filtration, 2000 hand-zested Eureka Lemons are infused in every small batch. That’s right only three ingredients are used, organic wheat, organic Eureka Lemons, and pure water filtered through reverse osmosis. Eureka lemons are a variety of Citrus Limon that was developed in California in 1958. Read more
Review: VDKA 6100 Vodka
VDKA 6100 Vodka was released April 2004. It is backed by actor Robert De Niro and Australian Casino Mogul James Packer. Yes, this is the same James Packer who was engaged to Mariah Carey. Robert De Niro, also had a hand in designing the packaging. The vodka is crafted by Artisan Spirits Merchants, with whey sourced from grass fed cows milk in the Bay of Plenty Region. VDKA 6100 is fermented using a rare strain of yeast imported from Ireland. The spirit is distilled three times and filtered through carbon rockets. Pure locally sourced natural New Zealand spring water is blended to proof. The VDKA 6100 name pays homage to the distance between New Zealand and the US. 6100 is also the country code of Perth Australia. Crown Metropol Perth, one of co-owner James Packer properties, is located there. Read more
Review: Plantation Barbados 5 Year Old Rum
Plantation Barbados 5 Year Old Rum is made from molasses in the birth place of rum, Barbados. The Plantation Rum brand was born in 1997. It was created by Alexandre Gabriel, the President and Owner of Maison Ferrand. Maison Ferrand also produces Pierre Ferrand, and Landy Cognac, Citadell and Magellan Gin, and Froggy B Vodka. Plantation Barbados 5 year old rum is fermented for 3-5 days and distilled in pot still and column stills. The spirit is aged for 3-4 years in bourbon casks in Barbados. The rum then crosses the sea where it is aged a second time, for 1-2 years in Limousin oak barrels previously used to age Pierre Ferrand Cognac. Read more
Review: Don Q Pina Rum
Don Q Pina Rum was released August 2017. It is just making its way to my market. This may be the result of Hurricane Maria shutting down production for several weeks at Destileria Serralles. Pina is one of five flavored rums produced under the Don Q label. The others include Coco, Limon, Mojito, and Pasion. The Serralles Family has been distilling rum in Puerto Rico since 1865 using a copper pot still imported from France. Don Q Pina Rum is made with the finest molasses, fresh volcanic mountain water from the Rio Inabon, and a unique strain of yeast kept alive and in use for over 75 years. After fermentation the spirit is distilled five times and aged 12-18 months in American White Oak Barrels. The rum is charcoal filtered. Natural pineapple juice is infused with the rum base before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Hennessy VSOP Privilege Cognac
Hennessy VSOP Privilege Cognac is made from a blend of over 60 eaux-de-vie made from 100% Ugni grapes sourced from four crus, including Grande Champagne, Petite Champagne, Borderies, and Fins Bois. The wine is double distilled using iconic Charentais copper stills and aged for a minimum of four years in French oak barrels sourced form Limousin or Troncais forests. The House of Hennessy was founded in 1765 by Richard Hennessy who was an Irish officer in the army of Louis XV. The Prince of Wales, a cognac connoisseur and the future King George IV of Great Briton personally requested a very special old pale from the House of Hennessy. Delivered in 1818 this new classification, VSOP became a benchmark for all cognac makers. Read more
Review: Big Five Coconut Rum
Big Five Coconut Rum is one of three rums crafted at St Petersburg Distillery under the Big Five Label. The other two are Big 5 Silver, and Big 5 Gold Rum. Big Five Rum is named for the five grand social clubs that thrived in Havana in the 1950’s. For the record those clubs included The Vedado Tennis Club, Miramar Yacht Club, Biltmore Yacht and Country Club, Havana Yacht Club, and Casino Espanol. Big 5 rum is made from sugar cane molasses sourced from South Florida sugar growers. The rum is column distilled four times and pot distilled once. The spirit is then artisan water proofed over four stages, charcoal filtered twice, and rested for 48 hours at each stage. The resting period gives the water and spirit time to marry. Natural coconut flavors are infused before bottling at 70 proof. Read more
Review: Koskenkorva Vodka
Koskenkorva Vodka is made from Saana and Elmeri, custom barley varieties. These are the northernmost barleys in the world. The barley is all grown within a 120 mile radius of the distillery. A continuous distillation process provides the equivalent of 250 distillations. Pure spring water filtered through the ridges of Salpausselka is blended to reduce to 80 proof. The vodka is so pure it does not require a separate carbon filtration. The Koskenkorva distillery has produced this vodka since 1953 in Koskenkorva Finland, a town with a population of 2100. Each year this town produces the equivalent of 90,476 kilos of barley per villager. Read more
Review: Martell VSOP Medaillon Cognac
Martell VSOP Medaillon Cognac is crafted from eaux-de-vie sourced from four crus including Borderies, Petite Champagne, Grande Champagne, and Fins Bois. Martell is the only cognac producer to distil only clear wine, where all the sediments and impurities have been removed. The eaux-de-vie is aged for four to seven years in lightly toasted Troncais oak barrels. Founded in 1715 by Englishman Jean Martell, Martell is the oldest of the great cognac houses. Jean Martell left his hometown of Jersey to start trading eaux-de-vie and opened his first distillery on the banks of the Charente. In 1831 his great grandson Frederic Martell crafted for the first time a blend of eaux-de-vie named Very Superior Old Pale. In 1838 the family purchased the Chateau de Chanteloup, the iconic House of Martell. Read more