No doubt about it: gin has had a year. Small batch producers are sprouting up in greater numbers than ever – in the US but also the UK. Though Bay Area local, Old World Spirits, made waves with their barrel aged gin, Rusty Blade, years ago, the aged gin trend has taken off, with even legendary Beefeater (who I had… Read more →
Meeting lovely Véronique Van Acker-Beittel here in San Francisco in September, I learned fascinating things about genever (pronounced “jeh-NAY-ver”) that I was not aware of even after years of drinking and exploring the Dutch/Belgian spirit that is the predecessor to gin. As a Belgian native (from East Flanders, specifically) who moved to the US in 2002 and married an American, Van… Read more →
Here are some of the best or noteworthy drink books released this year so far, with one (Whiskey Women) out in October 2013. THE COCKTAIL LAB – Tony Conigliaro ($29.99) London’s experimental cocktail genius, Sicilian Tony Conigliaro, blessed drink aficionados with his book, Drinks, last year in the UK, just released this summer in the US under the name, The… Read more →
At Tales of the Cocktail (2013 highlights covered here), one can easily taste hundreds of spirits in a week (not that one should). Most of what I find in tasting rooms and at events I’ve already had before, but there’s the occasional new release or product that might not have been released nationally. Here are two standout newcomers – and… Read more →
CHRISTIAN DROUIN Pommeau de Normandie If you love spirits and apples, then Calvados is your is your ideal imbibement. The elegant French version of apple brandy grown in the Calvados region of France, the apple brandy is often rounded out by pears, and in the case of Calvados Christian Drouin, one of the world’s best-selling small Calvados producers (around 150,000… Read more →
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 →