My bottle review column (last month’s edition here) is about what is unique, standout, new or trending in spirits with my review ratings on a 1-5 rating scale. My 15 bottle picks of the month:
RUM
Holmes Cay 2017 Mhoba Rum & 2012 Barbados Port Cask Rum
Holmes Cay limited edition, rare, single cask rums continue to wow, especially the first South African rum sold in the U.S. It’s 2017 pot still rum from Mhoba Distillery in Malalane. At 59% ABV, it’s made with commercial and wild African yeasts in fermentation and aged 4 years in South African whisky casks. It exudes bright banana and grilled pineapple on the nose, unfolding with anise, petrol, white pepper, tobacco and sweet vegetal notes. Hogo-seekers, take note! Holmes Cay 2012 Barbados Port Cask Rum is 55% ABV, distilled at Foursquare Distillery in Barbados, aged 9 years in ex-bourbon and port casks. It’s a blend of column and pot still rum, a bit more tannic and robust, hitting with bold, oaky sweetness, exuding plum, raisins and honey (both are sold at Bitters & Bottles/ B&B).
Taste Rating Mhoba: 5
Taste Rating Barbados: 4.5
Brandy: COGNAC
Exsto Cognac
www.exstocognac.com
Exsto Cognac is a collaboration between master blender Géraud Vallantin-Dulac and sommelier Julie Dupouy, choosing liquid from 15 small producers around the Cognac region (for those who need a primer, how the process of Cognac blending works from my multiple travels around the region), including liquid from Grande and Petite Champagne and rare Borderies. Elixir is the younger, more buttery of the two, loaded with stonefruit, pineapple, spices and lots of vanilla. Its sweeter profile is less my Cognac preference, but is ideal for cocktails. The Imperial — eight eaux-de-vie and only 888 carafes created — is what I crave in Cognac: an elegant, layered beauty of floral stonefruit, balanced spices (like ginger and nutmeg), sea salt and dark chocolate.
Taste Rating Elixir: 4
Taste Rating Imperial: 4.5
GIN
• Hendricks Gin NEPTUNIA
Hendrick’s Gin’s new NEPTUNIA ($39.99) goes coastal in its botanicals, a trend we’ve already been seeing for years in gin and craft (small batch) gins, here calling on the rugged, stunning coastline of Scotland, particularly near Hendrick’s distillery in Girvan. Master distiller Lesley Gracie plays off the classic Hendrick’s profile of cucumber and rose with layers of floral, saline and citrus. NEPTUNIA is balanced and bright in cocktails, a delight of a limited release, partnering with Project Seagrass to donate 100% of sales from their Magic-of-the-Sea Spa kit to educate on and fund seagrass meadow conservation.
Taste Rating: 4
• Dorothy Parker Gin
New York Distilling Company’s Dorothy Parker Gin has been a favorite of the Williamsburg-based craft distiller for years. Their new seasonal rose gin ($40) launched March 1 through September 22. Co-founder Allen Katz is tributing an NYC spring here with juniper berries, coriander, green cardamom, cinnamon bark, lemon and orange peels, elderberries, hibiscus petals, cherry, red and pink rose petals. At 44% ABV, the rose is subtle but present in the soft pink hue of the aromatic gin, while hibiscus and cardamom notes particularly shine.
Taste Rating: 4
• Split Rock Distilling Gin
https://splitrockdistilling.com
In Newcastle, Maine, Split Rock distills organic bourbon, vodka and gin, to name a few spirits, but their organic gin is really “floating my boat” as one of the better gins I’ve experimented with in awhile. Its bold, herbaceous profile is blessedly juniper, green note-forward, which I value in today’s broad gin world of wide-ranging botanical profiles. Most of all, it sings in cocktails, whether refreshers or spirituous. This one is a winner.
Taste Rating: 4.5
LIQUEUR
• Sorel
Sorel won me over immediately when I first blind judged it many years ago at ADI Craft Distilling awards. It tasted exactly like sorrel (hibiscus, ginger, cinnamon, clove, allspice) my dear Jamaican friend’s family would make and that I’ve had at Caribbean restaurants. Here, it’s in balanced (read: not too sweet) liqueur form. It was clear the producer nailed the profile. Sorel disappeared for awhile — with creator Jackie Summers being at one point the only black male to hold a license to distill spirits. In an impressive return, thanks to Fawn Weaver of also black-owned Uncle Nearest Whiskey, Jackie and Sorel are back. Made with Moroccan hibiscus, Brazilian clove, Indonesian cassia and Nigerian ginger, this beauty is as lovely as I remember, ideal on its own as a true sorrel (low, 15% ABV) or with sparkling wine as a spritzer.
Taste Rating: 5
• Cocalero
https://cocalero.com/en
Release in May 2021, Cocalero Negro is actually produced in Dublin, Ireland, but is a South American-inspired botanical spirit. The Negro ($29.99) is a solid chili liqueur of Andean herbs, peppers and spices, like aji panca peppers. Notes of licorice play with pepper and dark chocolate in a subtle whole. I prefer the original 2013 release of classico Cocalero, vivid with juniper, ginger, green tea and caffeinated guarana leaf. Its herbaceous, green and tannic yet sweet notes surprisingly sing with quality root beer.
Taste Rating Negro: 3
Taste Rating: 4
AGAVE — Tequila
El Luchador Blanco Tequila
www.elluchadortequila.com
With artwork inspired by lucha libre masked wrestlers, El Luchador Tequila was just relaunched by tequilero David Ravandi (founder of 123 Organic Tequila). I’ve only tried the re-release of the El Luchador Blanco Tequila ($39.99), not the reposado, anejo or distill-proof blanco. Distilled from blue agave grown in the highlands of Los Altos, fresh agave and citrus gain backbone from saline notes, making this a cocktail-friendly tequila that won’t blow your mind with complexity but is a quality tequila, especially for cocktails.
Taste Rating: 3.5
WHISKEY — Irish
The Quiet Man 8 Year Old Irish Whiskey
https://thequietmanirishwhiskey.com
The Quiet Man has been out since 2015 (2016 in the U.S.) from St. Louis-based Luxco, partnering with Derry’s (Northern Ireland) Niche Drinks. I tried their 8-year-old single malt ($65) in time for St. Patrick’s Day. This fruit-forward (think banana, stone fruit) sipper also works well in cocktails with bitter orange peel, apple, toffee, allspice and cinnamon layers. This is a sourced whiskey, the first Irish whiskey bottled in Derry in over a century. I can’t find any updates about what happened to their plans to open their own distillery, which was supposed to happen pre-pandemic.
Taste Rating: 4
VODKA
The Community Spirit Co. Vodka
https://thecommunityspirit.co
Committed to crucial causes of equitable pay and racial equality for restaurant, bar and hospitality workers, The Community Spirit Co. released vodka with a purpose. Created by distillers Dr. Ivan Saldana and Lupita Garcia, the kosher vodka is distilled from 100% corn and despite five distillations, still maintains some character, spice, vanilla sweetness and grain robustness, filtered with activated coconut carbon. It’s not a game-changer, but it’s a good vodka and with this purpose, worth supporting and emulating (sign their pledge here to support and up donations).
Taste Rating: 4
RTDs (Ready-to-Drink/Canned or Bottled Drinks)
• Navy Hill Electrolytes Tonic & Club Soda
Female-founded Navy Hill tonic line was launched in 2017 in Richmond, VA, from Jenny Lucas and Katie Williams. Two new flavors came out January 2022: Blood Orange and Grapefruit Soda. As the first “sonic” blend of club soda and tonic, the addition of hydrating electrolytes (natural potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium ions) is just smart. Flavors range from ginger to juniper and club soda to tonic (16-pack for $49.99).
Taste Rating: 4 to 5
• Royal Rose Syrups
Royal Rose Syrups from Newcastle, ME, is housed with organic distillery Split Rock Distilling, a worthy partner to spirits for any range of cocktails. Trying eight of their syrup flavors, including more interesting strawberry fennel, saffron and hot lime, to standard blueberry or blackberry, sometimes the straightforward flavors delivered sharper focus (I wish for a lot more fennel in the strawberry fennel, for example, which is uber-subtle in the syrup and completely lost in a cocktail). Overall, these are made with quality ingredients and blessedly not too sweet.
Taste Rating: 3.5 to 5
• Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye
Hercules Mulligan Rum & Rye ($38) bottled RTD has an impressive story, selling more than 15,000 bottles after its initial 2019 release, raising over $750,000 in a 3-week crowdfunding campaign. Created by Steve Luttmann (of Leblon Cachaca), Flaviar co-founder Grisa Soba and Mario Mazza of Five & 20 Distilling, Hercules Mulligan is a 50:50 blend of Caribbean aged rum and American rye whiskey with the addition of organic ginger root and bitters, essentially an Irish Old Fashioned. Ginger hits on the nose, while honey bitters, spice and oak roll with zest and rye grain on the palate. Though ready to drink on its own, it can be mixed with the likes of cola, ginger beer, stout beer, cider and so on.
Taste Rating: 4.5
WHISKEY — American
• Castle & Key Distillery Bourbon
On March 26, Castle & Key Distillery (I reviewed their seasonal gin previously) just launched their first-ever bourbon: Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Batch #1 ($50), produced in the Old Taylor Distillery they restored in 2014. Batch #2 will follow in early May. Aged four years and at 98 proof (49% ABV), my one struggle is with the intense tannins from wood on the hot finish, which slightly mask the mid-palate despite not being a super high ABV. Still, a nose of golden raisins and brown butter tinged with citrus blossoms unfolds to a bready, toffee and baking spices palate. Expect a different batch and flavor profile each release.
Taste Rating: 4
• Ballotin Peanut Butter Chocolate Whiskey
https://ballotinwhiskey.com
The Skrewball Whiskey craze was tired from the beginning. While I’m a lifelong peanut butter fanatic, flavored whiskies in general feel like a detriment to the category rather than a boon (“flavored” is what cocktails are for). But if you’re going to do it, do it right. And Ballotin Peanut Butter Chocolate Whiskey does (following the original Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey in 2015). Not too sweet, the robust bourbon whiskey is earthy with dark chocolate, lush with nutty peanut butter. It is surprisingly fun and memorable in cocktails.
Taste Rating: 4.5
