Review: Pura Vida Silver Tequila
Pura Vida Silver Tequila was launched in 2011. It is crafted with 100% blue agave, estate grown by the Vivanco family who have grown agave since 1923. Stewart Skloss worked with this family in developing the tequila. ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons soon joined the team. Pura Vida is triple distilled with pure water that has undergone a five stage water purification process before it is blended with the tequila. It is hand bottled at 80 proof. Pura Vida is currently part of an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign to raise funds to build their own distillery on 7 acres of land near Lake Chapala. Read more 
Review: Bonnie Rose Spiced Apple Tennessee White Whiskey
Bonnie Rose Spiced Apple Tennessee White Whiskey is one of two flavored whiskeys recently launched by Bacardi. Their other flavor is the previously reviewed Orange Peel. It is made with whiskey distilled in copper pot stills using their own proprietary mash with 80% white corn. Natural apple flavor and real spices from exotic locales are added before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Zyr Vodka
Zyr Vodka was introduced in the US in 2003. Zyr is crafted with winter wheat and rye grown in the rich black soil of Russia’s heartland, and pure spring water drawn from a 450 foot deep Artesian well in North West Russia near Finland. The water is filtered five time prior to blending with the fermented grains. It is distilled five times in a continuous still and then filtered an additional four times using carefully selected Birch tree charcoal. Read more
Review: 360 Grape Vodka
360 Grape vodka was introduced September 2010 by the Earth Friendly Distilling Co., a division of McCormick Distilling in Weston Missouri. It was originally called 360 Concord Grape. Grape is one of 12 vodka varieties they make with American grain that is quadruple distilled and filtered five times before it is infused with natural Concord grape flavor. Read more
Review: Caliche Rum
Caliche rum was introduced in 2012. It was created by Rande Gerber and Master Distiller Roberto Serralles in Puerto Rico at the Serralles family distillery where they also make Don Q rum. The Caliche name comes from a type of limestone found near the distillery, that is used to cement other materials together. Caliche is crafted with the finest Caribbean molasses. It is distilled five times in a column still and it is aged in American White oak barrels. Caliche is a blend of four different rums aged 3, 4, and 5 years with a small portion of Solera rum added. It is then filtered with a special charcoal blend to remove color build up during aging. Read more
Review: Rock Town Peach Arkansas Lightning
Rock Town Peach Arkansas Lightning is one of five moonshine flavors crafted at the Rock Town Distillery in Little Rock Arkansas. They also make a 125 proof unflavored moonshine and several whiskeys, vodka, rum, and gin. RT Peach is pot distilled from Arkansas corn in a copper pot still. It is then blended with all natural peach flavor and spices before bottling at 40 proof. Read more
Review: Widmer Brothers Hefe Shandy
Widmer Brothers Hefe Shandy was recently launched as a summer seasonal beer. They currently craft 21 beer varieties including two other seasonal beers. Kurt and Rob Widmer launched the Widmer Brothers Brewing Company April 1984 in Portland Oregon. In 2008 they merged with Seattle based Red Hook Brewery and named the new company, Craft Brew Alliance. In 2010 the Kona Brewing Company joined the group. Their Hefe Shandy is brewed with natural lemonade flavor, 2-row and wheat malts, and alchemy, and lemon drop hops. The Widmer Brothers crafted the Original American Hefeweizen, so it seems natural they would create the first Hefe Shandy. Read more
Review: Hotel California Blanco Tequila
Hotel California Blanco Tequila was introduced in the US in 2010. No, this tequila was not named after the Eagles hit song, but rather a hotel in Todos Santos on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. This hotel was built in 1947 by Antonio Wong a Chinese immigrant. After years of neglect a Canadian couple John and Debbie Stewart bought the Hotel California and renovated it into an 11 suite Boutique Inn. The tequila is crafted in small batches with 8-10 year old Organic Weber Blue agaves. A strain of yeast straight from the agave plant is used in the fermentation process. The tequila is then double distilled. First in a traditional method and then in a cold filtration process where the temperature is reduced to -6C to remove all organic impurities. Read more
Review: Ketel One Citroen Vodka
Ketel One Citroen vodka was introduced in 2000. The Nolet family has been distilling vodka for ten generations at their distillery in Schiedam Holland. It is made with 100% GMO free European wheat. They start with a column distillation process with a portion redistilled in small batches in copper pot stills. Each batch is individually charcoal filtered. It is then blended with the column distilled vodka and water. The vodka then rests in tile lined tanks until it is ready. The vodka is then infused with the natural oils essence of Southern European and West African lemons and two varieties of Caribbean limes before bottling at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Belvedere Vodka
Belvedere vodka was first produced in Poland in 1993, and was launched in the US in 1996. Belvedere is named after the historic Presidential Palace in Poland. Belvedere translates in Polish to, beautiful to see. It is crafted in Poland with Dankowski rye and pure water. The water is sourced from their own wells and it undergoes an 11 step purification process that includes reverse osmosis. The vodka is distilled four times and filtered twice, first through carbon and then a finer mechanical filtration process. Read more