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
MUYU Liqueurs
https://muyu-liqueurs.com
Just launched by well-known cocktail industry bar leaders of World’s 50 Best Bars-winning bars — Monica Berg and Alex Kratena of London’s Tayer + Elementary and Simone Caporale of SIPS in Barcelona — MUYU Liqueurs are an aroma-driven, perfume-inspired line ($39.95 SRP each) of low-abv liqueurs (22-24% ABV) with botanicals and ingredients sourced from Grasse, France, then blended at De Kuyper Royal Distillers, which I have visited and written about in The Netherlands. Of the initial three liqueurs, two are so perfumed as to be off-putting. Chinotto Nero’s citrusy elements are drowned by oak and cinchona bark — it tastes quite soapy. Vetiver Gris drowns in patchouli and cedar, coming across medicinal. But the floral Jasmine Verte seems to retain its freshness with restrained patchouli and zippy yuzu, oddly but intriguingly tasting almost like Jolly Rancher watermelon.
Taste Rating: 2.5 to 4
GIN
Monkey 47 Distillers Cut
https://monkey47.com
Monkey 47 Gin has long been one of the most expensive gins. This new (released November 1), rare Species Rara 2024 Distiller’s Cut Edition 14 is no exception at $79.99 SRP for a small 375 ml bottle. Since it first was released, I’ve found this German gin always good but overrated given its cost. A decade ago, I was immediately obsessed with founder Alexander Stein’s now impossible-to-find schnaps/unaged brandies, which I had the privilege to try a few of in Berlin years back. This new release won’t please all but the Sicilian half of me is delighted with the focus on capers as the limited edition botanical: #48 added to the #47 botanicals Monkey 47 is known for at 47% ABV. Makes me wish there were more caper gins. Their capers are sourced from a 75-year-old family farm, La Nicchia di Pantelleria, on Sicily’s tiny island of Pantelleria. As expected, the gin is briny, gently nutty, almost savory and gorgeous in a martini with a caper garnish, of course.
Taste Rating: 4.5
NA (Non-Alcoholic)
Wilderton Aperitivo Co.
https://wildertonfree.com/products/citrus-aperitivo
Wilderton non-alcoholic botanical spirits have so greatly improved since they first launched (when my review was less than glowing), though it’s impossible to top their beautifully balanced Bittersweet Aperitivo. They just relaunched their line with sleek, new bottling and packaging on December 5, 2024. Their new Citrus Aperitivo, ideal for NA spritz cocktails, is the right balance of citrus and botanicals, a bit sweet but not cloying, with necessary bitter and fruitness both.
Taste Rating: 4
TEQUILA
Cantera Negra Silver Tequila
www.canteranegra.com
Cantera Negra means “black quarry” evoking the volcanic soil where the new brand’s agaves are grown in central Mexico. I have not tried their aged tequilas, only the blanco/silver. While I welcome its minerality, it runs hot with a heavy vanilla presence on my initial sips, with some echoes of sweet, roasted agave, pepper and citrus. While there are pleasant notes, the sharpness and vanilla mar the finish.
Taste Rating: 3
RTDS (Ready-to-Drink Canned or Bottled Cocktails)
Sun & Shine Cocktails
https://sunandshinecocktails.com
Just released fall 2024 from Sonoma Craft, the NorCal portfolio best known for Golden State Cider, Sun & Shine Cocktails is their new line of three brunchy, canned spritzes and mimosas: Valencia Orange Mimosa, Pineapple Mimosa and Hibiscus Spritz (12-ounce can 4-pack; $15.99). Using real ingredients, fresh fruit and no added sugar, they source hibiscus flowers from Egypt, SoCal Valencia oranges and the like. At 10% ABV, they pack a punch but I wish for a bit more acid and citrusy brightness vs. the boozier, fruiter notes that come through in the Valencia Orange Mimosa, for example. But they rightly don’t veer too sweet and these are affordable newcomers in the RTD space.
Taste Rating: 3 to 4
MEZCAL
Manojo Mezcal
manojomezcal.com
In October 2024, one of Mexico’s (and the world’s) most celebrated chefs, Enrique Olvera of Pujol in Mexico City, just launched a new mezcal brand, Manojo ($49.99 SRP, 43% ABV), starting with a 100% Espadín mezcal. The name, a combo of the Spanish words mano (hand) and ojo (eye), directly translates to “a bunch.” This tributes Manojo’s team of industry friends and co-founders with Olvera, including husband-and-wife mezcaleros, Joel Velasco and Felicitas Hernández, who crafted this mezcal in the town San Luis del Río, southeast of Oaxaca City. Produced from seven-to-nine year old agave plants, this fresh mezcal goes green and mineral with a balanced but very present hit of smoke. It’s entry level in some ways, but with enough complexity to stand up in cocktails.
Taste Rating: 3.5
BITTERS
Luxardo Bitters
www.hotalingandco.com/portfolio/luxardo
Luxardo’s Cocktail Bitters is a welcome new line from the venerable Italian producer in five flavors (200 ml, $19.99 SRP, 44% ABV): Coffee Bitters, Chamomile Bitters, Rhubarb Bitters, Orange Bitters, Sour Cherry Bitters. Given a bit of harshness, the Chamomile Bitters are my least favorite. I adore rhubarb and cherry, so had expectations, especially from the cherry, given Luxardo’s over 200-year-history growing cherries to produce their famed maraschino liqueur. But I’d put those two bitters in the middle, not being as bright or tart as hoped, but still good. Unexpectedly, the Coffee and Bitter Orange Bitters were strongest, the former exuding roasted-bitter beauty in perfect balance, while the Bitter Orange imparts zest and balanced bitterness. Both add intriguing layers to cocktails.
Taste Rating: 3 to 5
JAPANESE WHISKEY
Maen Japanese Whisky
https://maenwhisky.com
Shaw-Ross International Importers imported Maen (pronounced mī-en, meaning “perfect circle”) Japanese whisky to the U.S. in 2024 in three releases: a blended whisky, 8-year-old blended pure malt and 12-year-old pure malt. The whiskies are made with Zen’s guiding principles, like a closed, unchanging circle. The blended whisky ($64.99 SRP) is 20% malt whisky and 80% grain whiskey, a mash of corn, barley and rye. Aged 3 and 5 years in ex-bourbon barrels, it’s a melange of fruits, citrus, baking spices, nuts and vanilla. The 8-year whisky ($124.99) is 100% malted barley, aged 8 years in seasoned ex-bourbon barrels, bold with stone fruit, wood, caramel and almonds. It’s got creamy texture and a mellowness. The 12-year ($164.99) is akin to the 8-year but aged 12 years. It’s the most elegant of the three, unfolding with chocolate, baking spices, oak and malty vanilla.
Taste Rating: 4 to 4.5
AMERICAN WHISKEY
• Lost Lantern Fall 2024 Collection
www.lostlanternwhiskey.com
Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski’s Lost Lantern — an independent bottler of American whiskies based in Vergennes, VT, in the tradition of independent bottlers in Scotland — released their Fall 2024 Collection on November 7, 2024, a beauty of four whiskies around 10 years aged, the oldest whiskies they’ve ever released. Many of these American distilleries just become old enough to have a 10-year-old whiskey. At $150 each, all four have no color added are natural cask strength and non-chill-filtered.
Westland Peated American Single Malt 9.99 Years Old Single Cask (109.8 Proof; 185 bottles) is the most elegant of the four and the only peated, though subtly smoky, tasting of apples and grain. Family-owned Tom’s Foolery Ohio Straight Bourbon 10 Years Old Single Cask (119.4 Proof; 82 Bottles) is the most tannic and my lowest rated of the four, but the mashbill of 63% corn from their family farm, 10% winter rye and 27% malted barley creates a warm melange of maple, corn, oak and spice. Female-led Spirit Works California Straight Rye 10 Years Old Single Cask: (139.2 Proof; 120 Bottles) is my second favorite of the lineup from Sonoma County, the palate unfolding with layers from 70% rye, 10% malted rye and 20% malted barley, notes of mint, lemon and warm woods. Brooklyn-based New York Distilling Company Straight Rye 10 Years Old Single Cask (133.9 Proof; 125 bottles) has created a warm rye with a mashbill of 72% rye, 16% corn and 12% malted barley. It’s surprisingly balanced for the proof with notes of leather, lemon, mint and dark chocolate.
Taste Rating: 3.5 to 5
• 2 Bar Spirits Bourbons
www.2barspirits.com
Grain-to-glass distillery 2BAR Spirits, is a Seattle-based distillery since 2010, the first to produce bourbon made from all Washington grain. In November 2024, they released their oldest whiskey to date: 2BAR 6 Year Single Barrel Bourbon. Founder Nathan Kaiser comes from the 5th-generation Kaiser family 2BAR ranch in South Texas, which he named the whiskies after. The flagship 2BAR Straight Bourbon ($35.40; 80 proof; 3.5 rating) is aged 3+ years and is both smooth and light with caramel, vanilla, cherry and chocolate notes yet finishes a bit sharp and tannic from the wood. 2BAR Bottled in Bond Bourbon ($63.02; 100 proof) is the only commercially available bottled-in bond in the Northwest, aged 4+ years, exuding butterscotch, chocolate and black pepper, but is my least favorite of the lineup given its excessive tannic, stripping finish.
2BAR Wine Barrel-Finished Bourbon ($50.97; 90 proof bourbon) is aged in Sparkman Winery barrels for 3+ years, so is also a bit sharp with wine tannins, but exudes warm grain and black pepper notes. Unexpectedly, my favorite was 2BAR Amaretto Barrel-Finished Bourbon ($50.97; 90 proof bourbon) made in partnership with Sons of Vancouver Distillery, aged 3+ years in new charred oak barrels, then finished in an amaretto barrel. While this adds a touch of nutty sweetness, it isn’t cloying. Rather, it’s balanced by spice and tannins less harsh than the rest of the line. 2BAR 6 Year Single Barrel Bourbon (Barrel 991; $88; 128 proof) is aged 6 years and is more rounded than others, though still a bit hot at this proof, exuding orange, maple, vanilla and dried cherry notes.
Taste Rating: All 3 to 3.5 except for Amaretto at 4
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.
