Review: General John Stark Vodka
General John Stark Vodka is distilled from apples, primarily Macintosh grown on Apple Hill Farm in Concord New Hampshire. The fresh apple juice arrives in 2200 gallon quantities. The juice is fermented for 7-10 days using two separate strains of yeast. The spirit is triple distilled on a 15 tray custom Christian Carl column still over the coarse of 24 hours. It then rests for a few weeks before it is cut to proof and bottled. General John Stark Vodka is named for the Revolutionary War soldier who during a speech uttered the phrase “Live Free or Die.” This phrase is still the New Hampshire state motto. The distillery sits on a former dairy farm that was switched to a vineyard in 1987 with the planting of the first grapes. By 1990 they were bottling wine. In 2004 the Flag Hill Distillery opened. Today they also produce whiskey, gin, rum, liqueurs, and brandy. Read more 
Review: Van Der Haute Traditional Eggnog Liqueur
Van Der Haute Traditional Eggnog Liqueur is made with real dairy cream, spiced rum, and French brandy. It is produced by LeVecke Corporation in Mira Loma California and is sold at grocery stores owned by Safeway and Albertsons. LeVecke is one of the world’s largest spirit producers. Since Van Der Haute is a made up name I’m trying to guess the Dutch connection with eggnog since most agree eggnog originated in England. The best I could come up with is Advocaat is a traditional Dutch alcoholic beverage made from eggs, sugar, and brandy. LeVecke produces eggnog liqueur for several different brands including Kirkland, Skrewball, and Trader Joes. They also produce a second Van Der Haute Eggnog Liqueur made from a wine base, and Van Der Haute Gingerbread Cream Liqueur. Read more
Review: Oak & Eden Wheat & Honey
Oak & Eden Wheat & Honey was launched September 29, 2022. It is sold exclusively at oakandeden.com. This is one of several whiskey expressions in the Oak & Eden product line. Oak & Eden was founded by brothers Joe and James Giildenzopf in 2018. Each whiskey base is distilled and barrel aged for a minimum three years at MGP in Lawrenceburg Indiana. The barreled whiskey is bottle finished, instead of double barrel finished by Oak & Eden at their distillery in Bridgeport Texas. A 5 inch long spiral cut piece of wood is placed in every bottle of the aged whiskey. Oak & Eden Wheat & Honey is crafted from a bourbon base made from a mash bill of 51% corn, 45% wheat, and 4% Malted Barley. One honey soaked medium toasted 5 inch long spiral piece of oak that had rested in honey is dropped in each bottle of Oak & Eden Wheat and Honey. Read more
Review: Skrewball Eggnog
Skrewball, The Original Peanut Butter Whiskey just released Skrewball Eggnog. It is made with real dairy cream, natural flavors and of course Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. For those unfamiliar with Skrewball it was created in 2018 by Steve Yeng, a Cambodian immigrant and his wife Brittany Yeng. Steve and his family own a couple of restaurants including OB Noodle House in Ocean Beach California and The Holding Company in San Diego. A peanut butter flavored whiskey cocktail was the signature cocktail he developed for the restaurants. Steve thought a peanut butter flavored whiskey would be a big seller. He worked with his wife Brittany who has a Masters Degree in chemistry while she was on maternity leave to develop Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey. While brandy has been the traditional spirit to blend with eggnog, rum, cognac, and whiskey have also been used to make a tasty adult eggnog. Skrewball Eggnog weighs in at 29.5 proof. By comparison Rumchata is 27.5 proof and Bailey’s Irish Cream 34 proof. Read more
Review: 21 Seeds Cucumber Jalapeno Tequila
21 Seeds Cucumber Jalapeno Tequila was launched in 2019 along with 21 Seeds Valencia Orange, and 21 Seeds Grapefruit Hibiscus Tequila. 21 Seeds was created by 2 sisters, Kat Hantas and Nicole Emanuel, and their friend Sarika Singh. The 100% agave base is distilled at the female owned and operated Casa Maestri. The tequila base is infused with the juice of real fruits. A custom built refrigeration system was built at the distillery to ensure all ingredients maintain their optimal freshness prior to infusion. The 21 Seeds brand was acquired by Diageo March 2022. Read more
Review: Xplorer Potato Vodka
Xplorer Potato Vodka is made at the Kilimanjaro Distillery in Allentown Pennsylvania. Father and daughter Kishor and Niky Chokshi were both born in Tanzania. They came to the US and opened their distillery September 2016. Xplorer Potato Vodka was launched October 2016. They currently produce several spirits including Peanut Butter Whiskey, Peach Bourbon, Chocolate Bourbon, Honey Bourbon, Gin, Penna Dutch Apple Pie, and their first spirit, Xplorer Wheat Vodka. Xplorer Potato Vodka is made with Pennsylvania grown potato’s. It is distilled 12 times and processed with 24-karat gold. A percent of profits go to provide clean drinking water to communities in need through the Tanzania water project. Read more
Review: Cazcanes No. 7 Blanco Tequila
Cazcanes No. 7 Blanco Tequila was recently added to the Cazcanes portfolio of tequila expressions joining Cazcanes No. 9 Blanco, No. 7 Reposado, and No. 7 Anejo. Cazcanes is named for the last indigenous people of Mexico to be conquered by the Spaniards. Cazcanes is crafted by Master Distiller Collin Edwards, a winemaker with a love for tequila. The recipe is based on a 300 year old indigenous recipe found in a moonshine jungle still. Cazcanes is made from hand selected Weber blue Lowland agave grown in volcanic tufa soil at 4000-6000 feet, and underground volcanic mountain spring water sourced from Navichi Springs. The spirit is fermented with natural wild yeast in stainless steel vats and distilled in alembic stills. Read more
Review: Truly Holiday Party Pack 2022
Truly has released a new Holiday Party Pack for 2022 and while they are the first hard seltzer brand to release their Holiday Pack, for me the flavors don’t scream “Holiday Pack”. This may be a good thing since others have already released Egg Nog and Gingerbread flavored hard seltzers and I’m not ready for a Turkey, or Mashed Potato and Gravy hard seltzer. Truly has brought back two of last years flavors, Holiday Sangria, and Cran Orange Sparkler but even they have been tweaked to now include real fruit juice. Blackberry Bramble and Pear Martini are new this year. Each 12 ounce slim can is made with filtered water, alcohol, natural flavors, real fruit juice from concentrate, and stevia. Read more
Review: Sinpatch Vodka
Sinpatch Vodka is a true farm to glass spirit crafted in a former dairy barn in Wassaic New York. John Dyson owner of Williams Selyem Winery and his Son in Law Joel Levangia founded the Tenmile Distillery. Sinpatch is named for the road the distillery was build on. Legend has it 300 years ago a local minister once described the area as nothing but a patch of sin due to the gambling houses, brothels, and saloons that populated the area. Tenmile Distillery currently only sells Sinpatch Vodka, and Listening Rock Gin while their first batches of Little Rest American Single Malt Whisky, barrel age. All of the spirits are crafted by Master Distiller Shane Fraser who joined Tenmile after serving as Master Distiller for Wolfburn Distillery, the most northerly malt Whisky Distillery in Scotland. Tenmile is made from locally grown wheat. The spirit is distilled through a pot still and a Coffey still with a special reflux condenser at the top. It is then filtered through activated charcoal made from their own recycled oak whisky barrels. Read more
Review: Tequila Gran Diamante Plata
Tequila Gran Diamante Plata was launched in 2016 by three business partners Charles Harris, Rafi Hannouche, and David Ayala. The brand received a boast in April 2022 when NBA Allstar James Harden invested in the brand. Tequila Gran Diamante is made from 100% estate grown agave grown in the red rich volcanic soil of Los Altos de Jalisco and artesian well water. The trimmed agave is baked in vertical autoclave ovens at medium high pressure for 14 hours. Once cooled the juice is extracted via a 4-mil press and fermented in a 23,000 liter open stainless steel vat screened to keep debris from blowing in for 4 days. The spirit is double distilled. After resting for 23-25 days in stainless steel vats, Tequila Gran Diamante Plata is bottled. Read more