School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
755 curated reviews
Old Weller Antique 107 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
W.L. Weller
Old Weller Antique proves that proof and elegance aren't mutually exclusive. The wheated mash bill gives it a silky backbone that the 107-proof heat rides rather than overwhelms. A benchmark for understanding how wheat shapes bourbon differently than rye.
Waterford Fenniscourt Edition 1.1 Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Waterford
Waterford's single-farm origin concept is more than marketing — it's a genuine attempt to prove terroir in whiskey. Fenniscourt 1.1 delivers a barley-forward profile where the grain's provenance genuinely seems to matter. The 50% ABV bottling strength lets every nuance come through without dilution.
Fortaleza Still Strength Blanco
Fortaleza
Fortaleza Still Strength takes an already excellent blanco and dials the volume to reveal what the agave has been saying all along. The additional proof isn't about heat — it's about clarity. Every element is sharper, more defined, more honest. A tequila that rewards attention.
Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge 2020
Domaine Ramonet
Ramonet is justly famous for whites, but this village-level rouge shows why Chassagne-Montrachet's reds deserve more respect. The Pinot Noir here is lifted and precise, with the terroir's limestone soils contributing a mineral backbone that gives the wine tension and purpose. A quiet revelation.
Benrinnes 15 Year Old Flora & Fauna
Benrinnes
Benrinnes is one of Speyside's most underappreciated distilleries, and this Flora & Fauna bottling shows why it deserves attention. The partial triple distillation creates a meaty, substantial character that's unlike its lighter neighbors. This is malt-driven whisky at its most unapologetic.
Anchor Old Tom Gin
Anchor Distilling
Anchor's Old Tom is a history lesson in a glass. It recalls the sweeter gin style that dominated before London Dry took over, but does so with restraint and craft. The botanicals are layered rather than loud, and the subtle sweetness acts as a bridge, not a crutch. Excellent in a Martinez.
Appleton Estate 12 Year Old Rare Blend
Appleton Estate
Appleton 12 Year Old Rare Blend is a masterclass in Jamaican rum at its most approachable. The pot-still funk is present but integrated, the oak influence is supportive rather than dominant, and the tropical fruit character speaks clearly to its Nassau Valley origins. Outstanding value for a rum of this age and complexity.
Mullineux Old Vines White 2022
Mullineux Family Wines
A masterclass in patient winemaking from the Swartland — restrained on release, but already telegraphing the gravitas of a wine built for the cellar.
Calle 23 Criollo Blanco Tequila
Calle 23
French-born master distiller Sophie Decobecq brings scientific rigor to this expression, using a proprietary criollo agave varietal she cultivated herself. The result is a blanco that's both technically fascinating and genuinely delicious — herbaceous, complex, and utterly distinctive. This is terroir-driven tequila at its most compelling.
West Cork 8 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey
West Cork Distillers
West Cork's 8 Year Single Malt is an entry point that punches above its price. It won't challenge your palate the way a pot still or cask strength expression might, but it delivers clean, honest Irish whiskey character with enough complexity to hold your attention. An ideal summer dram.
Barrell Craft Spirits Gold Label Bourbon
Barrell Craft Spirits
This is a masterclass in blending for complexity. Barrell's Joe Beatrice and his team have assembled old bourbons that speak as one voice — rich, authoritative, and endlessly nuanced. Worth every dollar for a special occasion or a quiet evening of serious contemplation.
Worthy Park Rum-Bar Gold Jamaican Rum
Worthy Park
Worthy Park's Rum-Bar Gold is the workhorse of the Jamaican rum world — an everyday sipper that carries the estate's signature high-ester funk without overwhelming the uninitiated. At its price, it's one of the best values in rum, equally at home neat, on ice, or anchoring a Jamaican-style cocktail.
Domaine des Baumard Savennières Clos du Papillon 2021
Domaine des Baumard
Clos du Papillon is one of Savennières' legendary vineyards, and Baumard's stewardship of it produces a Chenin Blanc of extraordinary precision and longevity. This 2021 drinks beautifully now but will reward cellaring for a decade or more. It's a wine that demands attention and repays it generously — a masterclass in how great terroir and great acidity can create something transcendent.
Blair Athol 12 Year Old Flora & Fauna
Blair Athol
Blair Athol is one of Diageo's great unsung distilleries — most of its spirit goes into Bell's blended whisky. This Flora & Fauna bottling reveals what the distillery can do on its own: a warm, generous Highland malt with sherry influence and genuine depth at a fair price.
Berliner Brandstifter Berlin Dry Gin
Berliner Brandstifter
Berliner Brandstifter uses an all-organic wheat base and a restrained botanical bill that favors Berlin's urban terroir — elderflower and woodruff among them. The result is a gin that's both classical in structure and distinctly Central European in personality. It rewards drinking neat as much as it does in a well-made Martini.
Álvaro Palacios Les Terrasses Priorat 2021
Álvaro Palacios
Les Terrasses is Álvaro Palacios's entry into Priorat's ancient terraced vineyards — a blend that democratizes one of Spain's most revered appellations. The llicorella slate soils deliver a mineral intensity that few regions can match, and Palacios coaxes from them a wine of remarkable concentration and elegance at a price that invites regular drinking.
Calle 23 Añejo Tequila
Calle 23
Calle 23 Añejo is the work of a French biochemist who approached tequila as a science and ended up making art. The oak integration is textbook — present but never dominant — and the agave character stays intact. This is añejo done with discipline.
Waterford Rathclogh Edition 1.1 Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Waterford
Waterford's single-farm philosophy reaches full expression here. Rathclogh 1.1 is proof that barley variety and soil composition aren't abstract concepts — they're things you can taste. A fascinating whiskey for anyone who cares about provenance.
Clairin Le Rocher Single Distillery Haitian Rum
Clairin
Le Rocher is terroir distilled to its most elemental. No barrel, no blending, no compromise — just Haitian sugarcane, wild yeast, and a copper pot still. It's raw, alive, and completely unlike any other spirit on this list. If you want to taste where rum begins, start here.
Domaine Marcel Lapierre Morgon 2022
Domaine Marcel Lapierre
Lapierre practically invented the modern natural wine movement in Beaujolais, but this isn't a philosophy bottle — it's just a great wine. The 2022 shows the Côte du Py terroir with transparency and verve. It tastes like Gamay at its most honest, which is exactly the point.
Nikka Coffey Gin
Nikka
Nikka applied their whisky-making precision to gin and the result is unmistakably Japanese — restrained, balanced, and texturally stunning. The Coffey column still gives this gin a richness most London Drys can't touch. It's a gin that demands attention neat before you ever put it in a cocktail.
Pikesville Straight Rye Whiskey
Pikesville
Pikesville is a rye that refuses to hide behind sweetness. It's a full-throttle expression of the grain itself, with enough barrel influence to add complexity without masking the raw material. A serious sipper that rewards attention.
Pulteney 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Old Pulteney
The 15 Year Old hits a sweet spot in the Pulteney range — old enough to show real depth, young enough to retain the distillery's trademark maritime freshness. It's a malt that tastes like its origin in the best possible way.
Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne Blanc 2022
Domaine Leflaive
This is what overflow fruit from some of Burgundy's greatest Chardonnay vineyards tastes like in the hands of a biodynamic master. Domaine Leflaive's Bourgogne Blanc routinely outperforms wines at twice its price. It's a lesson in what terroir and discipline can achieve at the most humble appellation level.