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 8 bottle reviews of the month:

TEQUILA

• Fortaleza Tequila Reposado Winter Blend 2024

https://tequilafortaleza.com

Though I love the great Tequila Fortaleza’s 2022 Winter Blend “a hair” more, that is not to in any way diminish the one and only Tequila Los Abuelos’ (NOM 1493) new reposado (93 proof/46.5% ABV; $199 if you can find it), just released at the end of September 2024. These highly coveted annual Fortaleza Winter Blends are almost impossible to snag from Guillermo Sauza and his incredible distillery where even their classic blanco, reposado, anejo and still strength tequilas are on allocation, though I was a big proponent in their early days as it came to the States in 2006. My first visit to the town of Tequila was with them back in 2010 when Fortaleza was readily available to the few insiders who knew and loved it.

Fortaleza remains great and artisanal in many ways, producing only 36,000 9-liter cases annually at approximately 10,400 bottles, small for a brand of this renown. This release starts with Fortaleza’s Still Strength blanco, aged in French oak casks that previously held cream sherry, then blended with varying reposados, aged three to 10 months. The nose unfolds with nuttiness, roasted agave, tropical fruits and green vegetal hints, while the palate rolls out with touches of caramel and vanilla from the oak, present minerality and an interesting whisper of licorice and cinnamon on the finish. Another Fortaleza winer.
Taste Rating: 4.5

Courtesy of Humano Tequila

• Humano Blanco and Reposado Tequilas

www.humanotequila.com

Only trying their Blanco ($49.99 SRP) and Reposado ($59.99), Humano Tequila’s colorful bottles, especially the orange reposado bottle, stand out first and foremost. Bright and modern, they are eye-catching on a shelf, filled with field-to-glass tequilas from co-founders Luis Abundis (CEO) and Anahi Rivera (COO). These single estate tequilas from Jalisco’s highlands are 100% additive-free, showcasing hand-selected agaves that go through “agave wash” to remove impurities. While I’m often a blanco girl first, their blanco runs oddly a bit smooth and hot, though thankfully cooked agave notes come through first. But Humano feels better integrated in the reposado, with a balanced touch of oak, and the contrast of the oak’s caramel and vanilla with the agave’s vegetal sweetness.
Taste Rating: 3.5 (Blanco) and 4 (Reposado)

AGUARDIENTE

Bacan Guaro Colombian Aguardiente

https://bacanguaro.com

Released Summer 2024, Bacan Guaro is kosher-certified aguardiente, the colloquial name for “fire water” or a more rustic spirit traditional across Spain, Portugal and Latin America. Bacan Guaro is a Colombian spirit produced in two strengths: Bacan 24 (24% ABV; $49.99) and Bacan 29 (29% ABV, $54.99), both in small 200ml bottles. This style of aguardiente leans anise-heavy with subtle whispers of fennel and licorice. Both are otherwise clean and vodka-esque, but with those intriguing green layers. At low proof, Bacan 24 is gentle but present with anise and citrus, while slightly higher proof Bacan 29 gains black pepper and spiced ginger notes in addition to the anise.
Taste Rating: 4 and 4.5

GIN

• OOLA Left Coast Gin

https://ooladistillery.com/products/oola-left-coast-gin

Distiller and co-owner Kirby Kallas-Lewis has long been making OOLA a standout in Pacific Northwest gin. His new berry-tinged Left Coast Gin tributes the region with their 13 botanical gin as the base, then additional hand-foraged ingredients — including some from his backyard — like Pacific bull kelp, mountain spruce tips, mountain blackberries, currants, lemon verbena, rosemary, West Coast honey, Pacific sea salt and hibiscus flower for violet-hued color. A berry tartness comes through with the green notes of juniper and spruce in this herbaceous gin. The bottle is enhanced by design from local muralist Sarah Robbins.
Taste Rating: 4

• Silent Pool Intricately Released Gin

https://silentpooldistillers.com/silent-pool-gin

Featuring 24 botanicals sourced around the Surrey Hills, Silent Pool Intricately Released Gin ($55 SRP) veers more juniper and floral with lavender and chamomile coming through, alongside lemon and a peppery spice. It’s not particularly memorable but is a balanced London dry gin that works well in classic cocktails despite the higher price tag.
Taste Rating: 3.5

MEZCAL

• Bozal Cempasuchil Mezcal

www.bozalmezcal.com/spirits/cempasuchil

Bozal does it again with their Bozal Mezcal Cempasúchil ($129 SRP). Their Espadin-Barril Mexicano ($50 SRP) is a gold standard in classic espadin mezcals, but this year-old Cempasuchil showcases mezcal’s coveted ancestral method and the Cempasuchil agave, bright with floral citrus, orange zest, baking spices, green pepper and black pepper, with a welcome anise hit. Bozal’s gorgeous ceramic bottles in varying colors go black here, amped up with a marigold flower etching, a sacred flower that helped guide spirits from their burial place to family homes during Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
Taste Rating: 4.5

• Tres Tribus Mezcal Artesanal Joven Espadin

https://trestribus.com/products/espadin

Tres Tribus 100% Maguey Espadin ($49 SRP) mezcal surprised me. I expected an entry level mezcal, especially only trying the Espadin. It is a great intro to those new to the category. But this small batch mezcal —from a B Corp certified, mountainous Oaxaca distillery, made by fifth generation mezcalero Juan Antonio Coronel— can easily win over mezcal lovers. It’s balanced and integrated with fresh grapefruit, green, vegetal (even minty) notes and minerality inherent from the underground volcanic stone-lined conical oven TT’s agaves are cooked in. I’m curious if the rest of the line is even stronger than this?
Taste Rating: 4

AMERICAN WHISKEY

Photo Courtesy of Locke + Co.

Locke + Co. Bourbon & Rye Whiskies

https://lockeandcodistilling.com

Denver-based Locke + Co was co-founded by Colorado natives Rick Talley and Owen Locke who have been friends since high school. They produce a high rye, high wheat mash bourbon and also make a range of rye whiskies, aged in their signature aspen-aged whiskey, as well as special cask releases like a port wine finish. Locke + Co. Flagship Rye (90 proof; $60-$69 SRP) is aged in new 30-gallon oak barrels from the Barrel Mill of Minnesota for over two years, then finished with hand-cut and charred aspen wood discs for another eight months. It’s also a bit hot, but unfolds beyond the barrel sweetness and rye spice to incorporate banana, cherry, ginger and a whisper of earthy tobacco.
Taste Rating Bourbon: 3.5; Rye: 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.

Previous articleVoices of Distilling: Chris Patrick
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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