School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
756 curated reviews
Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 9 Year Old
Old Fitzgerald
Old Fitzgerald's decanter series continues to reward patience. This 9-year bottled-in-bond expression balances wheated sweetness with genuine barrel complexity, offering structure without aggression. A bourbon that rewards slow, attentive sipping.
Glen Grant 18 Year Old
Glen Grant
Glen Grant 18 is an exercise in restraint and transparency. Speyside character at its most precise — fruit-forward, nut-accented, and impeccably balanced. This is a malt for those who value clarity over volume.
Nordés Atlantic Galician Gin
Nordés
Nordés upends London Dry expectations by leading with Galician florals and Atlantic botanicals rather than juniper. Its Albariño grape base spirit lends a vinous roundness that sets it apart. Best explored in a simple gin and tonic with a grapefruit twist to let the terroir sing.
Domaine du Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux 2020
Domaine du Comte Armand
Clos des Epeneaux is a monopole — one of Burgundy's rarest single-owner premier cru vineyards. The 2020 vintage shows the warmth of the year but retains the tension and structure that make Pommard compelling. This is Pinot Noir shaped by a very specific piece of earth, and it shows.
Tierra Noble Añejo
Tierra Noble
Tierra Noble's añejo is a masterclass in restraint for the category. The 18-month aging in French oak imparts structure and spice without erasing the agave identity. It competes well above its price point, delivering nuance that rewards careful attention.
Rhum Barbancourt 15 Year Old Estate Reserve
Barbancourt
Barbancourt 15 occupies a unique position — distilled from sugarcane juice like agricole rhum but aged with the patience of a grand rum house. Fifteen years in Limousin oak give it a brandy-like sophistication rare at this price. Haiti's terroir and resilience are in every sip.
Midleton Dair Ghaelach Knockrath Forest Tree No. 4
Midleton
This expression is a genuine cartographic exercise — each tree in Knockrath Forest imparts a unique fingerprint. The Irish oak finish adds tannins and flavors unlike anything found in standard bourbon or sherry casks. It's bold, complex, and unmistakably Irish in its sense of place.
Planeta Etna Bianco 2022
Planeta
Planeta's Etna Bianco is a compelling introduction to Carricante, the indigenous white grape of Mount Etna's northern slopes. The 2022 vintage balances ripeness and acidity with precision. At this price, it's one of the most transparent expressions of volcanic terroir available.
Kistler Vineyards Sonoma Mountain Chardonnay 2021
Kistler Vineyards
Kistler's Sonoma Mountain bottling shows what happens when multiple vineyard parcels are blended by a winemaker obsessed with site-specific texture. Steve Kistler's Burgundian approach — whole-cluster pressing, native ferment, sur lie aging — creates a Chardonnay where the blending of parcels yields complexity that no single block could achieve. This is California Chardonnay at its most purposeful.
Whitley Neill Original London Dry Gin
Whitley Neill
Whitley Neill built this gin around two African botanicals — baobab and Cape gooseberry — alongside a classic London Dry backbone. The result is a gin that reads as traditional on the surface but has a rounder, more textured mid-palate than expected. The blend of twelve botanicals works because each earns its place in the ratio.
Terralta Reposado
Terralta
Terralta's Reposado demonstrates restraint — six months in barrel is just enough to sand the edges without burying the highland agave character underneath. Made by the legendary Don Felipe Camarena, this bottling prioritizes balance. It is a tequila that respects the ratio between fruit, earth, and wood.
Penfolds Grange 2018
Penfolds
Grange is Australia's most celebrated blend, and the 2018 vintage reminds us why. Max Schubert's original vision — multi-vineyard, multi-region Shiraz with a small percentage of Cabernet — lives on in a wine where blending is not just technique but philosophy. Each parcel contributes something the others lack, and the result is greater than any single vineyard could deliver.
Appleton Estate 8 Year Old Reserve
Appleton Estate
Master Blender Joy Spence oversees the marriage of pot and column still rums at various ages, and this 8 Year expression showcases her precision. It is complex enough to sip neat but structured enough to anchor a cocktail. A textbook example of how blending creates balance that no single rum could achieve alone.
Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy
Midleton
Named for the legendary Master Distiller who shaped Midleton's modern identity, this bottling is a masterclass in single pot still blending. The marriage of malted and unmalted barley at different ages and cask types creates complexity that rewards patient sipping. This is Irish whiskey at its most ambitious.
Monkey Shoulder Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Monkey Shoulder
Monkey Shoulder exists to prove that blended malt can be serious without being complicated. The marriage of three Speyside single malts creates a whisky greater than any one component. It is the bartender's best friend and a useful benchmark for understanding blending ratios.
W.L. Weller Special Reserve
W.L. Weller
Weller Special Reserve demonstrates what a wheated bourbon can do even at entry level. The absence of rye bite allows the corn sweetness and barrel influence to dominate in a gentle, crowd-pleasing way. A genuine value when found at retail.
Dunville's Three Crowns Peated Irish Whiskey
Dunville's
Dunville's proves that Irish peat doesn't have to shout to be heard. This whiskey occupies that threshold between smoke and sweetness with uncommon grace. It rewards anyone who thinks peated Irish whiskey is a contradiction in terms.
Domaine de Trévallon Rouge 2019
Domaine de Trévallon
Eloi Dürrbach's roughly equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah has been one of Provence's most singular wines for four decades. The 2019 vintage captures the estate's signature tension between power and elegance — a wine that demands cellaring but already reveals its architecture to patient tasters.
Foursquare Sagacity Exceptional Cask Selection
Foursquare
Richard Seale's Sagacity bottling demonstrates why Foursquare has become the reference point for serious aged rum. The three-cask maturation program — ex-bourbon, ex-Madeira, and ex-port — creates a rum of uncommon dimension. This is rum that stands alongside the finest aged spirits in any category.
Hernö Old Tom Gin
Hernö
Hernö's Old Tom bridges the gap between dry and sweet with the precision of a watchmaker. Jon Hillgren's commitment to organic botanicals and small-batch copper-pot distillation results in a gin that feels both historical and thoroughly modern. Outstanding in a Martinez or simply on its own.
Terlano Pinot Bianco Vorberg Riserva 2020
Cantina Terlano
Cantina Terlano's Vorberg Riserva is arguably the finest expression of Pinot Bianco in the world, and the 2020 vintage is exceptional. Extended aging on fine lees in large oak gives this wine a gravitas that rivals top white Burgundy at a fraction of the price. A wine that will continue to develop for a decade or more.
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch A124
Elijah Craig
This is cask-strength bourbon at its most articulate. The 12-year age statement and barrel-proof bottling create a dialogue between power and nuance that few bourbons achieve. A masterclass in controlled intensity.
G4 Blanco Tequila
G4
Felipe Camarena's G4 Blanco is a testament to traditional tahona and roller-mill production yielding a spirit of uncommon clarity and depth. This is terroir-driven tequila — you taste the highlands clay in every sip. Essential drinking for anyone serious about agave.
Glencadam 10 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Glencadam
Glencadam is one of the Highlands' best-kept secrets, and this 10-year expression demonstrates why. It's a study in poise — every element precisely calibrated, nothing fighting for dominance. An ideal gateway to understanding Highland subtlety.