DISTILLER Bottle Review: February 2025 — by Virginia Miller
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 8 bottle reviews of the month:
RUM
Ten to One Rum
www.tentoonerum.com
Ten To One Rum’s Reserve Cask Collection is a limited release trio of 18-year, single-cask sipping rums from Barbados, Trinidad and Jamaica (all 46% ABV and $199; around 325 bottles each). Since 2020, Ten To One has launched rare casks of Caribbean rums hand-selected by founder Marc-Kwesi Farrell. Trinidad is my favorite of these new three, bringing all the funk I adore in an aged, molasses-based rum but elegant with oak, coffee and tropical fruit. Barbados is my next favorite, rich with dark chocolate and coconut notes, a bit sharper but still round and robust. I’m normally a Jamaican rum lover since I seek the hogo funk — and I appreciate the nutty, herbaceous, tobacco whispers here. But it’s also a bit hotter than the other two. All in all, a beautiful lineup, leaving me intrigued to try more from Ten to One.
Taste Rating: 4 to 5
LIQUEURS
Luxardo Del Santo Herbal Liqueur
www.luxardousa.com/products
Luxardo is a major name in Italian spirits since 1821, producing the world’s biggest-selling maraschino liqueur from their Northern Italy-grown cherries for over 200 years. January 2025 they just launched Luxardo Del Santo Herbal Liqueur ($34.99 SRP), which stands in the gap for the global Green Chartreuse shortage, though it doesn’t pack as much robust elegance in a sip as that iconic, made-by-monks liqueur does. Still, Del Santo is a good green herbal liqueur for the price, obviously suited for cocktail classics like a Last Word, given its partnership with Luxardo Maraschino Originale. But I prefer it as a variation for modern day classic, San Francisco’s own Chartreuse Swizzle. Botanicals in Del Santo include achillea moscata, mace, galanga, cinnamon, carnation, aromatic calamus and beyond. It’s silky in texture, herbaceous but sweet and gently bitter.
Taste Rating: 4
MODIFIERS/MIXERS
Dappled Tonic
www.dappledtonic.com
Dappled Tonic launched late 2024 with three tonic flavors: Aromatic, Citrus and Floral. Dappled is female-owned and operated by CEO Faith Dionne in Portland, Oregon, with striking packaging in primary colors of rosy-pink, reddish-brown and golden yellow. Dionne chooses the botanicals and ingredients for each, the Floral leading with subtle rose petal, chamomile, lavender and lemon. Citrus is a balanced hit of yuzu, lemon and lime with a savory touch of black peppercorn. Aromatic unfolds with cardamom, vanilla, lemongrass and orange. Each is an obvious match with gins and vodkas but they also drink refreshingly on their own: not sweet with the right whisper of bitter quinine and more layers of flavor than a basic tonic water.
Taste Rating: 4
NON-ALCOHOLIC (NA)
NOOH by La Coste NA Wines
https://chateau-la-coste.com/en
Nooh by La Coste just debuted December 2024 as a non-alcoholic wine line from a vineyard, art, hospitality and wellness destination near Aix-en-Provence, France. NOOH’s still Rosé and White ($29 each) are clean and silky, if a bit lacking in bold body sans alcohol. The rosé exudes grapefruit and strawberry tartness, while the white goes more fruity pear and floral jasmine. But I prefer the sparkling rosé and sparkling white ($43 each) as they have the fizzy punch to impart body and the illusion of ABV. The rosé is tart with lime, grapefruit, and cherry, while the golden sparkling white is crisp with lemon and stone fruit. A good addition to the sparkling NA wine category.
Taste Rating: 3.5 to 4
GIN
Common Ground Gin
https://commongroundspirits.com
Common Ground Spirits is a Berkeley producer which sources their ingredients in California for their gins and bourbon. Black-owned and founded in 2020 by two friends, Julian Peebles and Tory Brown, they hand-select their gin botanicals from local partners, while the bourbon is made with 100% California-grown grain. Working with neighbor Ryan Sutherland of Sutherland Distilling Company in Livermore, their approach is admirably collaborative, partnering with other small businesses and sourcing local ingredients. I did not try the bourbon or Gin 02 – Black Currant + Thyme, but did taste Gin 01 – Basil + Elderflower and Gin 03 – Blood Orange + Tarragon ($36 SRP each). While both had a slightly sharp, hot finish (keeping me from an even higher score), the Basil gin leads with herbaceousness and florality from the elderflower, offering a welcome silky body. It sings in a G&T (gin and tonic) and citrus classics like a Gimlet. Blood Orange leads with pink peppercorn botanicals, rounded by subtle orange and creamy apple notes, again, imparting a silky texture.
Taste Rating: 3.5 to 4
SOJU
Yobo Spirits’ KTOWN Soju Grape+Ginger
https://yobospirits.com/collections/k-town-soju
Is grape ginger soju my jam? Not exactly. Yuzu + Elderflower, Korean Pear + Lime and Peach + Chili Pepper — the other flavors Yobo Spirits creates in their KTOWN soju line — are flavor mashups that appeal to me more. But I only tried Yobo Spirits KTOWN Concord grape and ginger soju and it felt childhood reminiscent sans the booze, though I wish it had more ginger and more lime. The California-produced soju with its rice and corn base and low ABV 18% is balanced, not too sweet and fruity for those who like this juicy style of soju.
Taste Rating: 4
AGAVE SPIRITS: MEZCAL
The Lost Explorer Reserva Del Maestro Madre Cuishe Mezcal
https://thelostexplorer.com/mezcal/madre-cuishe
The Lost Explorer Reserva Del Maestro Madre Cuishe Mezcal (45% ABV; $120 USD) is a new limited edition 2024 release from maestro mezcalero Don Fortino Ramos joining its line of Espadin, Tobala and Salmiana mezcals in a striking bottle made from recycled crystal scraps. Madre Cuishe is one of my mezcal favorites: a wild-harvested agave in the Karwinskii family of agaves that thrives in more rugged terrain. This particular version is from 12-year-old agave plants, with some pinas slow-cooked in conical earthen ovens for 72 hours and the rest steamed in above-ground brick ovens for 24 hours. The result is a complex, layered mezcal that unfolds with nutty herbaceousness and notes of orange, minerality and caramel.
Taste Rating: 4.5
AMERICAN WHISKEY
The Obscure Distillery Rites of Fall Chestnut Whiskey
https://experience.theobscure.com
Los Angeles-based The Obscure Distillery just launched a line of experimental spirits, including the new American chestnut-matured rye whiskey, Rites of Fall (47% ABV; $150 SRP) in partnership with The American Chestnut Foundation. This makes them the only producer of spirits aged in functionally extinct American chestnut wood. Once a dominant species of nearly four billion trees and a key U.S. resource, the American chestnut tree was decimated due to a fungal blight in the early 20th century. Obscure is working with the Foundation to bring back the American chestnut and showcase its flavors in their whiskey of Ohio-grown rye. While it is essentially tannic and stripping on the finish, the whisky does hint at notes of stone fruit, candied orange, fig, rye spice and nuttiness. A mellowing of the tannins, second fill barrels or longer age could soften that sharpness and allow the pleasing notes to dominate more. All in all, an interesting experiment with historic wood.
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.
