Maybe it’s seasonal depression given this review is happening mid-Jan, but this vodka just evokes a mindset that makes you sort of want to hate it. It’s got this naming and imagery that seems more at place on a rum, and yet we can’t deny – it’s actually an all around above average vodka.
Category: Spirits
Astral Blanco Tequila 750mL
2020, well it’s certainly a new year despite the same old problems going on – a microcosm of this tequila if we’re honest. No part of this is truly terrible (well the price is for what you’re getting) but it is overall just – fine. The same beats told again of not having anything spectacular, burn a little too much, and then to compound the sin – basic ass mixers.
Imperial 12yr. Blended Scotch Whiskey 750mL
Imperial isn’t exactly the best word to use in this situation being such a common term for high proof beer. Add that to the vague branding and Sazerac being explicit and this is essentially just some off-brand scotch. This is the moment we’d love dearly to tell you it’s akin to an Ezra Brooks story, but it’s not. This isn’t good.
Western Son Texas Vodka 750mL
This review was for the most part on track to be just another okay budget vodka that maybe has a few bright spots with some bad. Then we got to the part where we need to assess the text on the bottle, type it out and give an overall score of honesty based on design, literature, and lies. What followed was – and we mean this completely – the worst bottle text in existence – so without further ado! FUCK. THIS. VODKA.
Monkey 47 Schwarzwald Dry Gin 1L
We promised that we’d have something even better than the fantastic Generous Gin, and we do. It’s a strange one, which we guess is the niche high-quality gin is fine falling into. It is, however, a wonderful gin that is unlikely to be akin to something you’ve had before in your G&T.
Johnnie Walker A Song of Fire Blended Scotch Whiskey 750mL
Earlier in the year we had tried the other side of this coin in the Song of Ice whiskey, and it was (thanks to a rusty nail) well received, and we wanted to make sure to grab a bottle of this to tell people what to buy before this is likely gone. However not everyone can win the game of thrones, and this is by far the weaker of the two.
New Amsterdam Stratusphere London Dry Gin 750mL
As we head into Week 2 of Gincember? (working title) we have some confusion – so to simplify this. New Amsterdam has decided to label both of their gins under the moniker ‘Stratusphere’ with a version that is called ‘The Original’ and this ‘London Dry Gin’. A London Dry typically involves a slightly different process, and a higher proof. There is something slightly odd afoot though because at first blush this seems more like the old version (with a bit of kick)
Generous Gin 750mL
So as we get close to Christmas time we decided to do some further reflections on gin, so this will be week 1/3 in gin reviews, and the spirit of the season has graced us with something excellent. Beyond that and we truly mean this as well – as good as this is – there is another. (#StarWarsTLShype)
Redneck Riviera Whiskey 750mL
This was brought up in the latest episode of Whiskeypedia (a podcast about drinking whiskey and Wikipedia), and as mentioned there – we buy entirely random, and often to our own detriment. This whiskey irks us especially being a slight contradiction and also because it doesn’t even mix well.
Smuggler’s Notch Distillery Vodka 750mL
We’ve had a string of bad reviews lately, and it feels like we buried the lead sometimes. Hard pass on this vodka y’all. Anyway with that out of the way the review must go on – this is a small batch Vermont vodka, and while we’d love to sing the praises of people in the Northeast of the USA doing good honest work – they bloviate and fail to produce something of true quality and instead make something okay that costs too damn much.