With spring in the air and warmer weather upon us, let’s drink some seasonal tequila cocktails. Many people associate tequila with warmer weather – cue the margarita – and put the spirit away during winter months. That’s a shame, of course, as reposado and anejo tequilas can warm even the coldest and most sober soul on a frigid winter day. But no matter; to celebrate the onset of spring, we present a trio of seasonal tequila cocktails. Each comes courtesy of Excellia Tequila, a 100% agave tequila from the highlands of Jalisco. And each features the brand's reposado tequila, which...

Nolet’s Silver Dry Gin is crafted in Holland by the same family that brought us Ketel One Vodka. But the Nolet’s are not newcomers to the category, as the Nolet family has been producing gin since 1691. Nolet’s Silver is much different than your standard London Dry Gin, as it eschews a strong juniper base for one that’s very floral and fruit-forward. Some of its unique botanicals include Turkish rose petals, peaches and raspberries. On the nose, it’s lush and perfumy, with the fruit hiding behind that big, brash dose of Turkish rose. Take a sip and you’ll find some...

Tuthilltown Spirits Farm Distillery is New York State’s first whiskey distiller since Prohibition, and is best known for its lineup of whiskeys – including a bourbon, rye and single malt. The distillery also produces vodka and corn whiskey, if you’re keeping score at home. And today they announced an addition to that portfolio – Half Moon Gin. Half Moon Gin is named for the vessel upon which Henry Hudson explored the New York river that now bears his name. In producing Half Moon Gin, Tuthilltown goes beyond the typical gin makers’ approach of flavoring neutral spirit with a blend of...

Does the world need more flavored vodkas? Especially if those flavors are “Hot” and “Sticki”? Stolichnaya – one of the industry’s leading vodka brands and current producer of such flavors as chocolate raspberry, white pomegranate and wild cherry – just announced two flavor additions to their portfolio. From the company: Stoli Hot offers the warm, fiery sensation of jalapeño peppers found on the bottle’s label and is the only jalapeño flavored vodka with significant mouth-heat. It is spicy on the palate yet has a delicate smoky quality. By contrast, Stoli Sticki is inspired by...

It wasn’t too long ago that the bitters world was dominated by Angostura, and your local liquor store was progressive if they carried Peychaud’s and Fee’s. These days, stalwarts like Angostura are joined on store shelves by Regan’s, The Bitter Truth and Bittermen’s, among others, which is good news for bartenders and home enthusiasts. One of the newer companies to produce an extensive lineup of bitters is Scrappy’s, which has found a home in many Pacific Northwest-area bars. Founded in 2008 by Seattle bartender Miles Thomas, Scrappy’s makes seven different bitters – lavender, lime, grapefruit, orange, chocolate, cardamom and celery...

The results of the 2012 Ultimate Spirits Challenge are in. The annual Ultimate Spirits Challenge was held last week at the Astor Center in New York City. More than 650 spirits were entered from more than 70 companies and 30 countries around the world. Judges included some of the industry’s foremost spirits authorities – like F. Paul Pacult, Sean Ludford, Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich – to name a few. The purpose of the Ultimate Spirits Challenge is to identify, recognize and reward products that stand out in their respective categories. Multiple panels of expert judges blind-tasted each entry in...

Greenhook Ginsmiths Distillery is a new Brooklyn-based outfit headed by gin aficionado, Steven DeAngelo. The company launched an American Dry Gin in February and will eventually be releasing a full line of small-batch, handcrafted gins. Greenhook Ginsmiths hopes to offer consumers new, accessible gins with more taste and character than what’s currently on the market. To achieve this, the distillery utilizes a unique method that diminishes the atmospheric pressure in the still. As a result, Greenhook Ginsmiths is able to reduce the temperature of the distillation environment to about 132 degrees, which is nearly 40 degrees below the normal alcohol...

Bacardi is one of the world’s biggest and most influential spirits companies, and the Bacardi USA portfolio encompasses some of the industry’s most recognizable brands – including gins, whiskeys, tequilas, and more. But Bacardi’s rich 150 year heritage is soaked in rum. And to celebrate that heritage, Bacardi released the below videos to showcase important moments in Bacardi’s history. The first video tells the story of the legendary parties hosted for Americans in Cuba during the dark days of prohibition. When prohibition hit the U.S. in 1919, Bacardi rum beckoned with the invitation to “Come to Cuba and bathe in...

Does America need another white whiskey? White Pike thinks so. Hailing from Schuyler County, NY, the just-released White Pike Whiskey is the alcoholic child of Mother Industries, a New York based creative company that was excited by the emerging culture of craft distilleries. Soon enough, they had the idea of creating a highly mixable white whiskey, and to make it a reality, they partnered with Thomas McKenzie and Brian McKenzie of Finger Lakes Distilling. That’s a solid move, as Finger Lakes Distilling produces Glen Thunder Corn Whiskey, perhaps our favorite in the category. White whiskeys are typically the product of...

Caorunn Gin (pronounced ka-roon) is a small batch Scottish Gin produced at the Balmenach Distillery in Scotland’s Spey Valley. Caorunn builds on the standard gin botanicals – like juniper berries, coriander seeds, angelica root and citrus peels – with five unique Celtic botanicals. The most prominent is rowan berry, from which Caorunn takes its name (“caorunn” being the Celtic word for the berry). The other Celtic botanicals are bog myrtle, heather, coul blush apple and dandelion leaf. In producing Caurunn Gin, neutral grain spirit is vaporized in a 1920s-era copper berry chamber. The botanicals are infused into the spirit, lending...