Looking for a new flavor? Need a little help making your next choice at your local bar or bottle shop? Dining and drinks writer and judge Virginia Miller combs through new craft spirits releases to taste, review, and recommend. Here are her top 12 picks of the month, rated on a scale of one to five.

My bottle review column (last month’s edition here) is about what is unique, standout, new and/or trending in spirits with my review ratings on a 1-5 rating scale. My 10 bottle reviews of the month:

LIQUEURS

Luxardo Espresso Liqueur, Photo Courtesy of Luxardo

Luxardo Espresso Liqueur

www.hotalingandco.com/portfolio/luxardo/luxardo-espresso-liqueur

While I can’t help but wish for a bit of cherry in the Luxardo Espresso Liqueur (25% ABV; $24.99 SRP), Italy’s iconic maraschino cherry producer and distiller has created a potent, lovely coffee liqueur. Distilled with beans from Brazil, Colombia and Kenya, the liqueur kicks in with 137 mg of caffeine per ounce and an earthy-sweet taste. It does not equal the unique perfection of St. George Spirits Nola Coffee Liqueur or earthy-sweet balance of Tempus Fugit Spirits Crème de Moka, to name a couple. It leans a touch too sweet for me. But the espresso robustness comes through in what is a great coffee liqueur for Espresso Martinis and other ubiquitous cocktails.
Taste Rating: 4

RUM

Diplomatico Rum Planas with Espresso Martini-Photo Courtesy of Diplomatico Rum

Diplomatico Planas White Rum

www.rondiplomatico.com/product/planas

Diplomatico Planas White Rum ($27.99 SRP) is white rum from the venerable Venezuelan rum, was a family-owned brand since 1989, acquired by Brown-Forman in 2023. Planas is an area at the foot of the Andes Mountains near the Diplomatico distillery. This white rum is slightly aged, then charcoal-filtered for clarity and smoothness. Thankfully, a robust 47% ABV makes it a worthy cocktail rum, standing up to dilution. Fresh sugarcane, coconut, vanilla and tropical layers encompass a welcome earthy whisper.
Taste Rating: 4

GIN

Spring Lake Korean Gin

• Spring Lake Korean Gin

www.smartbrewery.co.kr/shopping-gin/?idx=177

Spring Lake Korean Gin is not available in the States but I was able to try it, thanks to Korean neighbors who know the distillers and brought back the gin. It’s a rice-based gin with a bracing 45% base that hits first, while the rice imparts a creamy texture. The botanicals unfold with a hint of citrus and a strong floral component. The azalea flower dominates, azaleas being a key flower that heralds the arrival of spring in South and North Korea. While I wish for a juniper presence and a bit more integrated hit from the alcohol, this is clearly intended to be a floral gin and regional expression. In this, it succeeds.
Taste Rating: 4

Durham Distillery’s Conniption Barrel Aged Gin

• Durham Distillery’s Conniption Barrel Aged Gin

https://durhamdistillery.com/products/conniption-barrel-aged-gin

Durham Distillery, based in Durham, NC, just released their limited edition (8000 bottles) Conniption Barrel Aged Gin October 2024, based off their Conniption Navy Strength Gin, then aged ten months in 6-year bourbon barrels sourced from High West Distillery. I’ve long appreciated the gins from founder/CEO Melissa Katrincic and master distiller Lee Katrinicic, but I’m not a huge barrel aged gin fan as I don’t like gin’s blessed juniper masked by barrel. But this is a balanced barrel aged gin where the juniper still comes through, the spice is restrained but rosemary, caraway and cardamom unfold intriguingly, enhanced by a navy strength of 47% ABV. The gin works nicely in classic cocktails like a Negroni, Old Fashioned or especially a classic Martinez.
Taste Rating: 4.5

SOTOL

Acronimo Spirits Sotol

https://linktr.ee/acronimo.spirits

Acrónimo Spirits just launched September 2024 in Chihuahua, Mexico, from young owner, Alessandra Camino Creel, who has a deep roots in the state. Acronimo Sotol Blanco ($59.99 SRP) is distilled in a copper pot still from the Dasylirion Wheeleri succulent plant by Casa Ruelas, a fifth-generation Sotol producer. It’s a beauty of a sotol, exuding those mezcal-like properties: vegetal, earthy, subtly smoky and mineral but with sweet, green fruit tones. Its overall balance makes it a welcome intro to sotol and an ideal cousin to mezcal for agave lovers. It’s a winning new import.
Taste Rating: 4.5

RTDs (Ready-to-Drink/Canned or Bottled Drinks)

Chamère Canned Cocktail Inspired by Kir-Royale

Chamère “Emily in Paris” Kir Royale

https://chamere-emilyinparis.com

Gimmicky pop culture pandering aside, Netflix’s beloved Emily in Paris is as good a reason as any to celebrate a classic Kir Royale in ready-to-drink cocktail form. Chamère (4-pack, $23.99 SRP; also in 20cl/6.76 oz bottles and duty-free-only 75cl/25.36 oz bottles) was inspired by a Season 3 moment when Emily tastes her first Kir Royale in Paris. The sparkling wine classic features crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) and Champagne or sparkling wine. Released October 2024, the cute purplish-pink cans are clearly meant to appeal to a younger demographic who love the show, although it has been a binge-watch favorite across age groups. More importantly for us drinkers is this made in France “from carbonated grape wine” (no further details on the site or press release) is balanced (read: not too sweet), hitting berry-tart-sweet notes with a welcome dryness from the sparkling wine. It’s not complex but rather, crushable.
Taste Rating: 4

TEQUILA

El Negocio Tequila Blanco, Photo Courtesy of El Negocio Tequila

• El Negocio Tequila Blanco

www.elnegociotequila.com

Green, grassy and with a hit of bright citrus, El Negocio Tequila ($90 SRP) is a pricy blanco, despite its $10k for one bottle auction story. I have not tried the reposado or $200 joven — and the bottling isn’t as striking as many new tequilas these days for the price. But this additive-free tequila is surprisingly balanced and fresh, especially for one in partnership with a winery, Napa Valley’s cult Memento Mori and vintner Adam Craun, known for its Cabernet Sauvignon. Craun founded the tequila with entrepreneur Nicholas Lutz, hoping to bridge fine wine and tequila. Though the flavor profiles seem opposites, El Negocio is a quality tequila where the agave’s fresh greenness shines. Makes me curious if they’re as balanced with their oak.
Taste Rating: 4.5

El Tequileno Still Strength Blanco Tequila

• El Tequileno Still Strength Blanco Tequila

www.tequileno.com/still-strength

I always appreciate El Tequileno tequilas and El Tequileño Still Strength Blanco Tequila ($49.99 SRP) is no exception. In fact, at 50% ABV, it’s a standout in the line produced by third-generation master distiller Jorge Antonio “Tony” Salles. Sourcing agave harvested from Los Altos de Jalisco, this bracing beauty of a blanco Tequila hits with cooked agave, orange peel, green herbs, white pepper and a floral whisper. Given its welcome 100 proof and body, it stands up strongly in cocktails.
Taste Rating: 4.5

MIXERS

Yuzuco-Sudachi-8oz

YuzuCo Sudachi

www.theyuzu.co/collections/sudachi

LA-based, Japan-connected YUZUCO continues to be a prime source for pitch-perfect cold-pressed citrus juices ideal for cocktails and cooking, namely citrus from Japan. I reviewed their pristine yuzu juice in 2023, and now they’ve just launched sudachi citrus, a cousin to yuzu from Tokushima, Japan, where over 90% of the world’s sudachi is juiced. The citrus is most commonly harvested young and green, leaning more sour than softer, floral yuzu, with a welcome savory note of pink peppercorn and cumin among its tart, floral properities. YUZUCO Sudachi comes in two forms: a 100% juice and a more intense super juice.
Taste Rating: 5

AMERICAN WHISKEY

Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Whiskey

Sagamore Spirit American Rye Whiskey

https://sagamorespirit.com/spirits/double-oak-rye-whiskey  

Maryland’s Sagamore Spirit Double Oak Rye Whiskey (48.3% ABV; SRP $64) nailed it with this new straight rye whiskey, aged 4 to 5 years in high-char new American oak barrels, transferred into toasted wave stave barrels for an additional 18 months. I feared the overly tannic woodiness all too common in too many American whiskies, especially when nosing it. The wood bomb is there. But the bracing palate unfolds with toffee, coconut, hazelnut, orange peel and a hint of earthy tobacco, alongside rye spice. Proofed with limestone-filtered water from their 1909 spring house blessedly mellows out the tannins, even as the finish lingers without apology.
Taste Rating: 4.5

Ready for another round? Visit Virginia’s website http://www.theperfectspotsf.com/wp02/for last month’s edition, plus personal recommendations on the best spots in cities around the world.

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Virginia Miller
http://www.theperfectspotsf.com
Founding The Perfect Spot in 2007 sharing top recommends globally in food and drink, Virginia Miller is W. North America Academy Chair for The World's 50 Best Restaurants, regular columnist at The Bold Italic and Medium, Distiller Magazine, American Whiskey Magazine, Whisky Magazine, VOICES, Liquor.com, Gin Magazine, etc. She held roles as Zagat SF/NorCal editor, SF Guardian restaurant critic, Table8 National Editor/VP of Content. Published in over 60 international publications, she’s covered global dining, travel, spirits, cocktails, hotels and bars with regular columns at Time Out, Where Traveler, Google’s Touringbird, Food Republic, Thrillist, Travelux, to name a few. She wrote The Official Emily in Paris Cocktail Book. Virginia consults in dining, spirits, cocktails and drink. She co-created Avion’s Reserva Cristalino tequila with Pernod Ricard’s House of Tequila innovation, marketing and distilling teams and is now working multiple agave spirits projects in Mexico over recent years, including cutting edge innovation products and blends for different clients. She consults for multiple distilleries on short-term projects, whether evaluating and providing feedback on samples or products or multiple versions. She helps create various samples and flavor profiles with distilling teams or in labs, edits or writes tasting notes, provides feedback on marketing materials and leads tastings virtually or in-person. She leads tastings virtually for Whiskies of the World and for company parties or private events, educating on a range of spirits. Virginia creates drink menus for Michelin-starred restaurants (like Dominique Crenn’s Golden Poppy in Paris, a multi-month project creating an entire menu of cocktails and non-alcoholic cocktails with stories and photos for the restaurant’s launch). She aids in honing and curating food and drink menus and provides feedback on dishes and drinks. Virginia judges in many international dining, food, spirits, cocktails and bars competitions and awards (including SF World Spirits, ADI Craft Distilling, Tales of the Cocktail, Good Food Awards, IWSC in London, Nola Spirits Comp, Whiskies of the World, etc.) and has visited over 13,000 restaurants and even more. top bars around the world.

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