School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
756 curated reviews
E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Rouge 2021
E. Guigal
Guigal's Côtes du Rhône Rouge remains one of the great benchmarks for southern Rhône value wine. The 2021 vintage delivers generous fruit concentration while maintaining the savory, slightly wild character that makes this blend so food-friendly. At this price, there's no excuse not to have a case.
Brockman's Orange Kiss Gin
Brockmans
Brockmans Orange Kiss takes the brand's fruit-forward philosophy and sharpens it around a single citrus theme. It's a gin that works brilliantly in a spritz but has enough botanical structure to stand up in a Martini variation. The lower proof keeps it sessionable without diluting the aromatics.
Writers' Tears Double Oak
Writers' Tears
The Double Oak edition adds structural complexity to the Writers' Tears range without losing the elegance the brand is known for. The second maturation in American oak virgin casks introduces toast and spice while keeping the pot still character intact. A smart step up from the original.
Fuenteseca Cosecha 2018 Blanco
Fuenteseca
Fuenteseca's Cosecha series emphasizes vintage-dated agave, and the 2018 harvest delivers a blanco that tastes like terroir in a glass. This is a tequila for sipping — unhurried and unapologetic about its complexity. Not a mixer, not a party pour. A conversation piece.
Isaac Bowman Port Barrel Finished Bourbon
Isaac Bowman
Isaac Bowman delivers a bourbon that plays two hands simultaneously — fruit-driven and barrel-intensive. The port finish adds genuine depth rather than gimmickry, and the price makes it an exceptional value for what's in the glass.
Domaine Vacheron Sancerre Blanc 2022
Domaine Vacheron
Domaine Vacheron consistently produces Sancerre that goes beyond the category's often one-dimensional reputation. The 2022 vintage is beautifully balanced — fruit-driven enough to enjoy young, mineral enough to age, and structured enough to pair with serious food. This is textbook Sauvignon Blanc from one of the appellation's finest growers.
Edradour 10 Year Old
Edradour
Edradour is often called Scotland's smallest traditional distillery, and its 10 Year proves that limited scale can produce outsized character. It's an approachable Highland malt with hidden layers that reward a slow pour.
Havana Club 7 Años
Havana Club
Havana Club 7 is a benchmark for aged Cuban rum — disciplined blending, clear identity, and a balance between sweetness and dry complexity. It's a rum that demands respect in an Old Fashioned or a daiquiri, but frankly it's best appreciated neat where the seven years of tropically aged barrel work can speak for themselves.
Aberfeldy 16 Year Old
Aberfeldy
Aberfeldy's honeyed house style reaches its fullest expression at sixteen years. The distillery's use of particularly long fermentation periods creates a fruity, waxy new make that benefits enormously from patient maturation. This is a gateway Highland malt for anyone graduating from blends.
El Tesoro Paradiso Extra Añejo
El Tesoro
Finished in A. de Fussigny Cognac barrels after initial aging in ex-bourbon wood, Paradiso bridges the world of fine tequila and brandy without losing its identity. The tahona-crushed agave provides a textural richness that machine-milled tequilas rarely achieve. This is sipping tequila at its most contemplative.
Foursquare Détente Exceptional Cask Selection
Foursquare
Richard Seale's Exceptional Cask Series continues to set the benchmark for aged Barbadian rum. Détente was aged in a combination of ex-bourbon and ex-Madeira casks, and the latter influence brings a dried fruit richness that elevates the blend. At cask strength, it rewards a few drops of water, which unlock the tropical fruit character.
Barrell Bourbon Batch 036
Barrell Craft Spirits
Barrell's blending program continues to punch above its weight class. Batch 036 demonstrates what happens when you combine high-proof stocks of varying ages with a skilled palate at the helm. This is a bourbon that rewards patience in the glass — give it twenty minutes of air and it opens dramatically.
Redbreast 21 Year Old
Redbreast
Two decades in a combination of bourbon and sherry casks give this pot still whiskey a depth that few Irish expressions can match. The interplay between the spicy, oily pot still character and the rich sherry influence is seamless. This is a whiskey that justifies its price through sheer complexity.
Domaine Bott-Geyl Pinot Gris Sonnenglanz Grand Cru 2021
Domaine Bott-Geyl
Bott-Geyl's biodynamic approach in the Sonnenglanz vineyard allows Pinot Gris to express the clay-limestone terroir with unusual clarity. The 2021 vintage brought excellent acidity, which counters the natural richness of the grape. This is Alsatian Pinot Gris at its most serious — a wine that belongs at a dinner table with rich cuisine rather than an aperitif glass.
Elvio Cogno Barolo Ravera DOCG 2019
Elvio Cogno
The Ravera vineyard in Novello sits on marl and sandstone soils that tend to produce Barolos of elegance rather than raw power. Elvio Cogno's 2019 captures the warmth of the vintage without sacrificing the tension that makes great Nebbiolo so compelling. This will reward cellaring through 2035, but it is approachable now with a proper decant.
Tanqueray Malacca Gin
Tanqueray
Originally released in 1997 and then discontinued, Malacca was revived due to bartender demand. Named for the Strait of Malacca — the historic spice trade route — it represents a gentler, more aromatic approach to gin that sits beautifully between Old Tom sweetness and London Dry austerity. Ideal for those who find classic Tanqueray too bracing.
Caroni 17 Year Old Extra Strong Trinidad Rum
Caroni
Caroni is not for the timid. The distillery closed in 2002, and every remaining bottle is a finite artifact of a heavy, industrial rum-making tradition. This 17-year expression captures the full Caroni paradox: brutally funky yet surprisingly layered. It is a rum that demands your full attention and repays it generously.
Kentucky Owl Batch 12 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Kentucky Owl
Kentucky Owl Batch 12 is the product of meticulous blending — multiple barrels and ages married into something cohesive and commanding. It rewards patience: give it fifteen minutes of air and the complexity multiplies. A bourbon for contemplation, not speed.
Empirical Spirits Helena Gin
Empirical
Empirical's approach — treating spirits like a culinary lab experiment — could easily produce gimmicks. Helena Gin avoids that trap entirely. It is structurally rigorous: juniper-forward enough for purists, texturally inventive enough for modernists. The chamomile integration is the quiet stroke of genius that separates this from dozens of competent Nordic gins.
Teeling Brabazon Bottling Series 02 Port Casks
Teeling
The Brabazon Series 02 demonstrates what happens when port casks and Irish malt genuinely cooperate rather than compete. The port influence is assertive but never dominates the underlying spirit's grain-forward character. At 49% ABV, it carries enough weight to stand up to the cask influence without requiring dilution.
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage 2019
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
Chave Hermitage is the quietest of the great Northern Rhône wines — no marketing machine, no celebrity winemaker narrative. Just six centuries of one family working the same granite hillside. The 2019 vintage offered ideal conditions, and this wine captures the hill's full voice: power, elegance, and a sense of place that transcends vintage variation.
Balvenie 17 Year Old DoubleWood
The Balvenie
Where the 14-year Caribbean Cask pushes rum sweetness, this 17-year DoubleWood opts for depth and restraint. The extra three years in refill American oak followed by sherry butts adds a measured gravity that rewards slow sipping. A Speyside benchmark for secondary maturation done right.
Raveneau Chablis Premier Cru Montée de Tonnerre 2021
Domaine Raveneau
Raveneau is the gold standard for Chablis, and Montée de Tonnerre is arguably their most complete premier cru. The 2021 vintage brought freshness and concentration in equal measure. This is a wine that teaches you about Chablis terroir in real time — each sip revealing another layer of that ancient seabed. Allocations are notoriously tight, so buy what you can find.
Terralta Extra Añejo
Terralta
Terralta's Extra Añejo represents the rare aged tequila that never forgets its source material. Five years in barrel could overwhelm lesser spirits, but the highland agave backbone and additive-free commitment keep it honest. Felipe Camarena's fingerprint is unmistakable: precise without being sterile, complex without being fussy.