The 21 Best Bars in D.C.
This is where to drink when you’re drinking in D.C.
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Infographic: Courvoisier Cognac, by the Numbers
A data-heavy look at Courvoisier, one of the world’s most prolific cognac brands.
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L’Essence de Courvoisier Cognac Review
When discussing a bottle of booze like Courvoisier’s L’Essence, one must, almost out of necessity, begin with matters like its scarcity and its cost. So let’s just get that out of the way: the legendary cognac house releases only about…
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BroVo Project Amaro No. 14 Review
Usually when you’re talking amari, you’re talking about recipes handed down over the course of generations by Italians. Seattle-based BroVo’s line of amari is almost the polar opposite. The liqueur-centric distillery had been working on a rhubarb spirit. When they…
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Ghost Tequila Review
I’m old enough to remember a day when if you wanted a hot pepper-infused tequila, you had to infuse the damn tequila with the damn peppers yourself. Oh, the burden. Now, any liquor store worth it’s… well, it’s liquor, likely…
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Shake. Stir. Sip: More than 50 Effortless Cocktails Made in Equal Parts
On paper at least, the Last Word cocktail is a drink that has no business succeeding. But there’s something about the way the funky sweetness of maraschino plays off the tang of the lime, the herbal hit of the chartreuse…
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Leopold Bros. Navy Strength Gin Review
Colorado-based Leopold Bros. distillery is something of a trailblazer in the world of gin. Their American small batch gin, originally released in 2001, was at the leading edge of the “American gin” movement, eschewing the juniper-forward style of London dry…
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Boulard Calvados Pays d’Auge VSOP Review
Boulard is one of the legacy producers of Calvados, distilling from cider in the Normandy region of France since 1825. The Boulard Calvados Pays d’Auge VSOP, one notch up from their entry level, is a blend of brandies–each aged for…
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Distillery No. 209 Gin Reviews
San Francisco-based Distillery No. 209 has a lot of things going for it, starting with some legitimate history–the original 209, at a winery in St. Helena, California, dates back to 1882. The owners, as you might expect, have some…
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Derek Brown’s Columbia Room Is Back in DC
It would be an overstatement to say that Derek Brown birthed DC’s cocktail renaissance. After all, before he burst onto the scene, there were plenty of Washington bartenders–Todd Thrasher and Gina Chersevani notable among them–doing interesting work. But when Brown…
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Drinking in Some History (and Whiskey) in Downtown Nashville
We’ve seen all kinds of fanciful claims when it comes to whiskey brands and history. This one says it’s distilled in the dungeon of a 13th century castle. That one comes from Davy Crockett’s brother’s recipe. Too many of these…
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Corsair Oatrage Whiskey Review
One thing you can say about Nashville’s Corsair Distillery: you’ll never get the expected. That’s true for their widely available flagship releases, like the peat-, cherrywood- and beechwood-fired Triple Smoke, or the clever-if-gimmicky Quinoa Whiskey. It’s also true for their…
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Tasting Wicked Dolphin Rums
I remember my reaction the first time I saw a bottle of Alaska Outlaw whiskey. “They make this stuff where? Wasilla, Alaska? What?!” It must say something about the drinking culture in South Florida that when I heard about Wicked…
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George Washington Single Malt Whisky Review
You may have heard about some of the ultra-limited edition spirits that have been coming off the still at Mount Vernon’s recently restored, circa-1797 distillery building. Among them are a white rye, an aged rye and a peach brandy. But…
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WhistlePig Old World Rye Whiskey Review
Dave Pickerell has been tinkering. The guy who’s maybe America’s foremost maker of rye whiskey has taken lately to aging his rye in casks more common to scotch whisky production. He started with an extremely limited-release Sauternes finished rye, the…
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Koval Rose Hip Liqueur Review
If you happen to live in the Midwest, you’re probably familiar with Koval Distillery, which in 2008 became Chicago’s first booze producer since Prohibition. But even if you’re from the heart of Big Ten country, you’re probably mostly familiar with…
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