School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
1183 curated reviews
Pueblo Viejo Añejo Tequila
Pueblo Viejo
Pueblo Viejo Añejo is the kind of bottle that quietly embarrasses tequilas three times its price. San Matías has been distilling since 1886, and that institutional knowledge shows in the balance here. If you want an everyday añejo that respects the agave without emptying your wallet, this is it.
Ancnoc 18 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
AnCnoc
Knockdhu remains one of the Highlands' best-kept secrets, and this 18-year expression shows why patience at a small distillery pays dividends. It is refined without being polite — there is genuine complexity here, earned through unhurried maturation. A Highland malt that deserves a wider audience.
Domaine Hauvette Cornaline Les Baux de Provence Rouge 2021
Domaine Hauvette
Dominique Hauvette farms biodynamically in one of Provence's most arid, sun-hammered appellations, and her Cornaline cuvée channels that stress into concentrated, terroir-specific wine. This is not easy-drinking southern red — it is structured, cerebral, and deeply place-specific. Give it air and time.
Zárate Albariño Rías Baixas 2023
Zárate
Zárate's old-vine Albariño from the Val do Salnés subzone is a masterclass in site-driven white winemaking. The granitic soils and Atlantic proximity give this wine a tension and mineral depth that mass-market Albariño rarely achieves. At this price, it is one of the most compelling values in European white wine.
Scapegrace Gold New Zealand Dry Gin
Scapegrace
Scapegrace Gold takes the solid bones of the Classic expression and adds just enough exotic botanical complexity to merit the upgrade. The New Zealand water source is immaculate, and the distillation is precise. It works equally well in a G&T or a more structured cocktail. A genuine find from the Southern Hemisphere.
Clairin Communal Casimir Ansyen 30 Mois
Clairin
Faubert Casimir's clairin stands apart from conventional rum in the same way natural wine diverges from industrial bottlings — it is terroir-driven, wild-yeast fermented, and deeply connected to its place. Thirty months in oak tames the spirit just enough to reveal hidden layers without dulling its essential wildness. This is rum for the curious.
Hinch 10 Year Old Sherry Cask Finish Irish Whiskey
Hinch
Hinch proves that Northern Ireland's new wave of distilling can compete on quality, not just novelty. The sherry finish adds genuine dimension to an already well-aged blend, delivering complexity that punches above its price point. A sleeper worth tracking down.
Weller Full Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
W.L. Weller
Weller Full Proof delivers the intensity the wheated bourbon camp has always promised. It is uncompromising at barrel strength yet remarkably balanced — proof that high octane and elegance are not mutually exclusive. A bottle worth the hunt.
Benromach Peat Smoke Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Benromach
Benromach's Peat Smoke bottling is a deliberate provocation — Speyside distillers aren't supposed to play with fire this way. But the result is balanced and compelling, a whisky that uses peat as seasoning rather than identity. It bridges regions and expectations with confidence.
Waterford Ballymorgan Edition 2.1 Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Waterford
Waterford's terroir-driven approach is on full display. The Ballymorgan 2.1 is a whiskey that tastes like it came from somewhere specific — and that specificity is the whole point. It's intellectual without being cold, expressive without leaning on cask influence. A whiskey for anyone who believes place matters.
Ciro Picariello Fiano di Avellino DOCG 2023
Ciro Picariello
Ciro Picariello's Fiano is one of southern Italy's most compelling white wines — volcanic soil, old vines, and zero shortcuts. The 2023 is electric and precise, with the kind of mineral depth that makes you reconsider what Campanian whites can achieve. This is a wine that tastes like the rough, beautiful terrain it comes from.
Few American Gin
FEW Spirits
FEW American Gin doesn't apologize for its grain character — it leans into it. The result is a gin that bridges the gap between juniper-forward London Dry tradition and the broader flavor ambitions of American craft distilling. It's an excellent Martini gin with enough personality to stand up to bolder cocktail applications.
Pueblo Viejo Blanco Tequila
Pueblo Viejo
Pueblo Viejo proves that integrity doesn't require a premium price tag. This is an honest, additive-free blanco that punches well above its weight class. It's the kind of tequila that makes you question what you're paying for elsewhere — direct, expressive, and built for both sipping and mixing.
Knob Creek 12 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Knob Creek
Twelve years in the Kentucky rickhouse gave this bourbon a heft and depth that its younger siblings can only aspire to. It's not a sipper that flatters — it challenges, rewards patience, and demands your attention. A textbook example of what extended aging does to a high-rye mash bill.
Rhum Barbancourt 8 Year Old Reserve Spéciale
Barbancourt
Barbancourt 8 Year is one of the great bargains in aged spirits. Made from fresh sugarcane juice in the Haitian tradition and aged in Limousin oak, it occupies a unique space between agricole and traditional column-distilled rum. It's unpretentious, deeply flavorful, and a reminder that provenance outweighs price.
Trediberri Barolo DOCG 2019
Trediberri
Trediberri represents a new generation of Barolo — respectful of tradition but willing to bottle with less extraction and shorter maceration, letting the vintage and vineyard define the wine. The 2019 is precise, energetic, and remarkably accessible for young Barolo without sacrificing any aging potential.
Glen Elgin 12 Year Old Hidden Malt
Glen Elgin
Glen Elgin is one of Speyside's most underappreciated distilleries, doing most of its work inside blends. This 12-year-old official bottling shows what happens when their spirit gets to stand alone—honeyed, fruit-forward, and impeccably balanced. A workhorse distillery's quiet solo performance.
Tullamore D.E.W. XO Caribbean Rum Cask Finish
Tullamore D.E.W.
This is a cask finish that actually earns its secondary maturation. The demerara rum barrels add genuine complexity rather than mere sweetness, and the underlying triple-distilled blend has enough structure to hold it together. At this price, it's one of Irish whiskey's better-kept secrets.
El Tequileño Platinum
El Tequileño
A masterclass in blending — El Tequileño Platinum proves that joinery between young and rested tequila, done with restraint, can yield something greater than either part alone. A versatile, food-friendly pour that punches well above its price.
Transcontinental Rum Line Jamaica WP 2016
Transcontinental Rum Line
The Transcontinental Rum Line series, curated by La Maison du Whisky, offers some of the most transparent independent rum bottlings available. This Worthy Park 2016 captures Jamaica's high-ester tradition with enough age to smooth the edges while preserving the funk. It's a seam between wildness and refinement.
Audemus Pink Pepper Gin
Audemus
Audemus approaches gin-making with a Cognac distiller's patience, using individual botanical macerations and vacuum distillation to capture precise flavors. The pink pepper is the star, but it's the supporting cast—restrained juniper, floral notes, earthy angelica—that makes this gin genuinely compelling. A bartender's gin that also stands tall on its own.
Inama Vin Soave Classico DOC 2023
Inama
Inama has been one of the key estates in Soave's quality revolution, proving that Garganega on volcanic soil can produce wines of genuine complexity and ageability. This 2023 vintage is drinking beautifully now—precise, mineral-driven, and effortlessly refreshing. A reminder that great white wine doesn't need to cost a fortune or carry a famous appellation.
Cantine di Marzo Irpinia Aglianico DOC 2020
Cantine di Marzo
Aglianico is southern Italy's answer to Nebbiolo—structured, tannic, and age-worthy—but often available at a fraction of the price. Cantine di Marzo, one of Irpinia's oldest estates, delivers a textbook example: volcanic soil character, muscular tannins, and fruit depth that will only deepen over the next five to eight years. A serious wine at an unserious price.
Barrell Bourbon Batch 035
Barrell Craft Spirits
Barrell's blending program is the seam itself—dozens of cask samples stitched together into a single coherent pour. Batch 035 demonstrates that a skilled blender's palate can create complexity that rivals single barrel selections. This is a bourbon that rewards patience and a wide glass.