Yes you read that correctly, this is a bourbon – not a rum. Though you’d be forgiven for thinking so. And while it may have a sweetness that compares to a rum as well, it very much wears it’s bourbon colors in flavor. We of course intend the pun here, but if you are looking for a decent bourbon you might want to give this a chance.
Goose Island IPA: 2.0 – Given how pleasing the Hazy IPA was last week, it seemed right to check out the OG. Unfortunately while that was delicious, fruity, and flavorful (albeit mostly cinnamon) the result here is more true to form. It’s not super hoppy, but damn does it have a lot of bitterness. The sad thing is even as a shandy the bitterness shines through here and there’s not enough hops to balance out either.
Price Average: $6 for 4 Pack 16oz cans
Website: https://www.gooseisland.com
The mention of tea brought back to our minds something else that’s relatively close to Scotland in the form of an Irish Gin (Drumshanbo) the result not being stellar, however that was made with tea prepared in a way that likened it to gunpowder. Here however we have Ceylon tea which might mean something to you. What means something to us is what the contents of the bottle bring – which is good, but there’s a catch.
Lost Palate: 7.5 – We typically shy from IPA reviews because of pure saturation, and because we mostly don’t like them (except as a shandy!) There are of course exceptions to the rule, and that’s what you get here. This Lost Palate really wears the mango and cinnamon on it’s sleeve, not in a ‘oh I detect notes of cardamon’ nonsense – this really has got cinnamon going on. The result with that mango is that there really isn’t any bitterness at all. If there’s an issue it’s that the mango goes away rather quickly, making it very easy to down a lot of this and there’s not much aside from the two hit combo – but if this is what ‘hazy’ means we should all get hazy.
Price Average: $3
Website: https://www.gooseisland.com
So it’s pronounced Bu-na-ha-venn. Just felt the need to get that out of the way, because the name (and dear god their literature) can be summed up best by the word verbose. If we’re honest the contents of the glass can also fall under the category of verbose as well. The whiskey here is quite a complex thing – but the problem with complexity in a scotch is whether it fits the expectations and the desires of the drinker.
Dawn of Hyperion: 4.0 – Two things up-front. First, expect a head from this beer – albeit one that doesn’t last forever. Secondly, yes we had to include the art from the back of the can because – well look at it. As for the beer itself – it’s fine? It starts off more sour, then gets a bit tart, and finishes a bit wet sock/bread. Like it’s an okay beer, maybe a little subpar – if anything it’s more just a disappointment from how cool that art is.
Price Average: $18 for 16oz Can 4 Pack
Website: https://riverstyxbrewing.com/
We’ve been playing this game with vodka. It’s called – let’s buy stuff for under 20 bucks and then hate ourselves the following morning all in the hopes that there’s another mark on the list we can give you the readers to avoid. However Alimov is not going onto that list, we are HBR and we speak for the Santa because this is going on the nice list. Of course as always we have our comments, and nobody is perfect, but strap in because it’s been a long time since something that cost $13 bucks didn’t extract a blood price in return.
DragonWeisse: 5.0 – It’s a wholly inoffensive sour. There’s a decent amount of fruit, but it’s also a bit ‘wallpaper paste’ so you lose any refreshing nature. It’s not terribly bad, but yeah – a sour made not radically polarize those who drink it.
Price Average: $16.50 for mixed 12 pack cans
Website: https://www.harpoonbrewery.com/
This is odd to say, but it’s sort of sad to dislike something you were actually sort of ready and willing to like. We’re big fans of lemoncello here so when we see the Italians making a gin, our hopes in a bevy of citrus and awesome flavors were sort of muted by the end result in Gin di Fiori. While the lemon certainly has a role to play here, overall it’s just not a good gin. It straddles that expanse between galaxies of ‘gin’ gins and ‘wild’ gins, and fails to be either.
