Review: Boot Hill Vodka
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oot Hill Vodka is crafted in the former Dodge City Kansas Municipal building that was build in 1929, and once housed city hall, a municipal courtroom, jail, Fire Department, and Police Department. The Boot Hill Distillery is owned by Roger and Hayes Kelman and Chris Holovach. These farmers produce every single grain used to produce their spirits. They plant, harvest, mill, mash, ferment, distill, and bottle each spirit. They also produce Gin, White Whiskey, Red Eye Whiskey, Bourbon, and Bitters. Boot Hill Vodka is made from 100% wheat. The spirit is distilled in 500 gallon batches in a custom crafted pot still/column still. Read more 
Review: Bounty Lime Rum
Bounty Lime Rum was launched October 2017 and introduced in the US in 2018. The Bounty rum brand was established in 1972 as the principal brand of St Lucia Distillers, a united venture created when the last two distilleries of St Lucia merged. They also released their white, gold, dark, spiced, and coconut flavored rums for sale in the US initially on a limited basis as they build distribution. Bounty Lime Rum starts with the Bounty White rum base made from double column distilled Guyanese molasses. The rum is aged in once used bourbon casks for two years. The wood colors are filtered after blending. Natural lime sugars and flavors are macerated with the rum at 80 proof. Distilled water and natural sugar are then blended to reduce to 50 proof. Bounty distills, blends, and bottles their rums on site in St. Lucia. Read more
Review: Boardroom Fresh Citrus Vodka
We recently picked up a bottle of Boardroom Fresh Citrus Vodka for review. We had heard good things about the vodka and after sampling ourselves, we liked it so much we awarded a gold medal. Since then Boardroom Distillery has informed us they have updated their Citrus Vodka and it is now made from a 100% non GMO corn vodka base. The previous version was made from a vodka base made from wheat. The current Boardroom Fresh Citrus was released near the end of 2017. They were kind enough to send us a bottle and provide some additional details on how they craft their citrus vodka. The vodka base is distilled in a Hagyo custom built 530 gallon still. It is then infused with real lemon, lime, and orange. It is a combination of dried and fresh citrus zest. The dried citrus provides greater flavor, while the fresh is more aromatic. No artificial flavors, color, sugar, or preservatives are added before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Lady Bligh Coconut Rum
Lady Bligh Coconut Rum is made by Luxco with rum imported from the Caribbean. Natural flavors are added before bottling at 50.5 proof in Missouri. They also produce Lady Bligh Spiced Rum, and Lady Bligh Cherry Spiced Rum. The brand is named for Mary Elizabeth Bligh, the daughter of William Bligh. Yes he is the same William Bligh who was the Commander of HMS Bounty in 1789 when the famous Mutiny on the Bounty occurred. Years later he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia. He soon initiated a law prohibiting the use of spirits as payment for goods. This led to the Great Rum Rebellion of 1808. Bligh’s daughter Mary Elizabeth was so ashamed of her fathers rule she led a band of rebels to reclaim the peoples taxes, possessions, and their confiscated rum. Read more
Review: Padre Azul Silver Tequila
Padre Azul Silver Tequila was launched in Europe in 2016 and was later released in the US February 2017. The story begins in Heidelberg Germany where HP Elder from Austria met and fell in love with Adriana Alvarez Maxemin from Guadalajara Mexico. They soon married and with the help of his Father in law, HP Elder set out to create the finest tequila. Their quest led them to a small distillery in Amatitan. Padre Azul Silver is made from 100% Weber Blue Agave grown for 8-10 years in the valleys of the Lowland Region by Master Distiller Erika Sangeado. The extra growing period produces more sugars for fermentation. The agave are slow cooked in traditional masonry ovens that steam the pinas for 24 to 48 hours. The pinas rest and cool for 24 hours before the juice is extracted. Only natural occurring yeasts are used for fermentation which takes between 72 and 96 hours in stainless steel tanks. A double distillation at low temperatures so as not to burn off the sugars follows. The hand blown bottles are topped with a 270 gram solid metal skull paying homage to Dia de los Muertos and eternal friendship. The leather jacket with lacing is a tribute to the Mexican Lucha Libre wrestling mask and is a tribute to El Santo, the most famous Luchador in Mexico. Read more
Review: New Amsterdam Pink Whitney Vodka
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ew Amsterdam Pink Whitney Vodka will be released in September. I was lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle a little early. New Amsterdam Vodka has teamed with Barstool Sports to launch Pink Whitney Vodka. The pink lemonade flavored vodka was inspired by an original drink creation from Ryan Whitney, former NHL player and host of the Barstool Sports Podcast, “Spittin Chiclets”. New Amsterdam is the Official Vodka of the National Hockey League. The New Amsterdam brand was launched in 2011, and by 2017 sales had grown to 5.2 million cases annually and it was the third best selling vodka brand in the US. Pink Whitney starts with the Original New Amsterdam Vodka base made from the finest grains, distilled five times, and filtered three times. Lemonade flavors and certified colors are blended before bottling at 60 proof. Read more
Review: Mr. Toms Spirits Coconut Rum
Mr. Toms Spirits Coconut Rum is made in Fort Myers Florida at the List Distillery. The distillery was opened by the wife and husband team of Renate and Thomas List in 2015. Renate and Thomas are originally from Austria. Renate is a decedent of the Jagermeister family. The distillery crafts 6 rums including a White, Dark, Spiced, Key Lime Pie, and Apple Pie flavor, and 3 vodka’s including a Sugar Free, Orange, and Grapefruit flavored vodka. They also produce a couple of gins, whiskeys, bourbons and liqueurs. All Mr. Toms Spirits are mashed, cooked, mixed, distilled, and bottled onsite. Their Coconut Rum starts with their White rum base that is distilled from brown sugar. It is distilled in small 260 gallon batches. The sugar is purchased from local farms. The white rum base is infused with fresh coconut flake and coconut water and is bottled onsite at 42 proof. Read more
Review: Re:Find Vodka
Re:Find Vodka was launched March 2012 along with Re:Find Gin. The Re:Find Distillery currently also produces Cucumber Flavored Vodka, Barrel Aged Vodka, Limoncello, Kumquat Liqueur, Rye Whiskey, and Bourbon. The husband and wife team of Alex and Monica Villicana actually started making wine in 1993. By 1999 the 13 acre vineyard they personally planted in Paso Robles had matured enough to produce their own wine grapes marking their transition to an Estate Winery. The Re: Find Distillery was derived from the Villicana’s desire to be more sustainable in their winery. Winemakers bleed a percentage of free-run juice from red grapes before fermentation to concentrate and enhance the color, tannin, and quality of their red wine. This bleed is called saignee. Some winemakers use this saignee to produce Rose wine, others just discard it. Re:Find reclaims their own and in total approximately 60 acres of premium Paso Robles wine grapes each year through their distillery. Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache grapes from their own winery and other varieties including Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from their neighbors wineries provide the saignee base. The varietal doesn’t play a role in the flavor of the spirit. What really matters is that the wine grapes are ripe because it is the glycerol that creates the luxurious texture. The fermented saignee is triple distilled in a 250 gallon custom Carl Hybrid Column/Pot Still. Re:Find is bottled unfiltered onsite at 80 proof. Read more
Review: Bounty Coconut Rum
Bounty Coconut Rum is now available in the US. It is produced by St Lucia Distillers. The distillery is located at the Roseau Sugar Factory in the Roseau Valley on the Islands largest banana plantation. Bounty Coconut is made from the Bounty White Rum base. The white rum base is a blend of double column distilled rums from Guyanese molasses. The rum is aged in ex-bourbon casks for 2 years. The wood colors are filtered after blending. Coconut extracts and sugars are macerated with the rum. The rum is brought down to 50 proof with pure distilled water and sugar. Read more
Review: Bird Dog Black Cherry Whiskey
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ird Dog Black Cherry Whiskey was introduced May 2019. It is one of 13 varieties of flavored whiskey in the Bird Dog product line. The others include Spiced, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Maple, Strawberry, Blackberry, Peach, Chocolate, Apple, Praline, Jalapeno Honey, Hot Cinnamon, and Kentucky Blended Whiskey. Western Spirits Beverage Company also produces Lexington and Calumet Bourbon. BD Black Cherry starts with a Kentucky bourbon base made from corn, wheat, and rye. The spirit is aged in white oak barrels. Natural cherry flavors are blended before bottling at 80 proof. Read more