Article by Virginia Miller, Press photos/from brand websites Each year holds a range of interesting spirits released from around the globe. As the craft spirit industry continues to explode, there are many exciting newcomers this year. Here are some of the best of what’s crossed my desk in 2012. FORD’s GIN ($27) – The 86 Company is a new venture… Read more →
NAVY STRENGTH GIN REACHES US SHORES Unforgettable: my journey to the south of England in the town of Plymouth and its legendary distillery with Master Distiller Sean Harrison. Possibly the most beautiful distillery I’ve yet visited, I relished drinking Plymouth Navy Strength ($34.99) while in the UK, a bracing version of their classic gin at 57% ABV/114 proof, the preferred… Read more →
Photos & Text by Andi Berlin On June 20-21, San Francisco “opened its mind, unfastened its senses” and joined Hendrick’s Gin in two evenings of unusual revelry (Hendrick’s Voyages Into The Unusual). The Scottish gin company went to great lengths to create a Victorian underworld-themed party, decking out the 100-plus year old Swedish American Hall with anthropomorphic shrubbery, taxidermied… Read more →
WHISKIES of the WORLD Tastes A better than ever year aboard the SF Belle at Whiskies of the World means some fine, global pours of whisk(e)y from Scotland to Australia. On the fun and interesting tip, Lark Distillery distills single malt whisky in Tasmania, an Australian island – and it’s surprisingly solid. Distilled in copper pot stills, it’s smooth with a… Read more →
Here are two new barrel aged beauties worth seeking out, plus more to look forward to in 2012. 1512 SPIRITS BARREL AGED 100% RYE & Poitín We’ve talked small production 1512 Spirits rye before, made by Salvatore (Sal) Cimino in a small, custom still up in Santa Rosa. During the day you’ll find him giving shaves and cutting hair in… Read more →
Whether hunting for the latest and unusual spirits as a gift or pour during holiday festivities, these brand new products, a number of them local, are standouts in my incessant sampling. TEMPUS FUGIT CREME de MENTHE & CREME de CACAO Praise be for the arrival (finally) of these game-changing liqueurs! I had the privilege of tasting early prototypes of local… Read more →
TEQUILA DON JULIO 70 ANJEO CLARO Don Julio 70 Añejo Claro is the 70th anniversary release created by Don Julio González himself. Yes, he is a person, who retired in 2002 but still creates anniversary recipes each decade (the last was his soft, elegant 1942 tequila released for their 60th anniversary). At 80 proof, Añejo Claro sounds gimmicky at first:… Read more →
Consistently, St. George Spirits (also Hangar One) wears the crown for renegade inventiveness. As I wrote last year, Lance Winters, master distiller, and distillers Dave Smith and Chris Jordan, lead the way in out-of-the-box creativity. Never have I seen the like of their test tube apothecary of experimentation where they’ll try anything, from foie gras and beef jerky, to carrots… Read more →
ORSON, SoMa – Orson bar manager Ian Adams shows inspired vision in his cocktails. He’s having fun pairing them with a new four-course dinner, but even more so, his everyday cocktails shine with enough twists to keep me intrigued. Amorosa ($10) comes on the stem in a champagne glass. It exhibits a rosy Campari and house cinnamon-rose kombucha hue, mixed… Read more →
One jumps at the chance to spend a day at London’s Beefeater Distillery, particularly when given a personal tour by Beefeater’s master distiller Desmond Payne. Gracious and mannered, Payne has been making gin for over 40 years, his early days being at Plymouth Gin. An English picnic in Kensington Gardens and a week full of fine food and cocktails at… Read more →