Awesome Spirits

Bananas and bourbon might not be the first flavor combination that pops into your mind, but it works surprisingly well. Made with 80-proof Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey, Howler Head’s “Monkey Spirit” is infused with a natural banana flavor, and delicious mixed with Coke, espresso and coffee liquor, Bailey’s, or even served in an Old Fashioned.

To indulge in whiskey tastings without the need for a designated driver, Blind Barrels delivers these fun blind-tasting boxes to your door. Each box includes four 50 ml samples of hidden American whiskey gems and new craft distillery releases labeled A, B, C, and D so you can taste blindly to discover new favorites.

This smooth but potent whiskey from Memphis, Tennessee distillery Blue Note has won back-to-back Double Gold awards in San Francisco’s World Spirits Competition. The easy-to-sip spirit is finished in toasted French oak barrels for a bold caramel flavor with vanilla undertones and a deep amber color.

To commemorate 2024’s total solar eclipse, Hopkinsville, Kentucky-based Casey Jones Distillery introduces four-grain Total Eclipse Kentucky Straight Bourbon and releases a new batch of its Total Eclipse Moonshine, first created in 2017 when it was named the “Official Spirit of the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse” on the Kentucky Senate floor.

High N’ Wicked’s Foursquare Whiskey is one tasty spirit. The distillery achieves its depth of flavor by aging single-grain Irish whiskey in bourbon barrels and finishing it in casks from Foursquare’s award-winning Mark X 2007 Barbados rum. It starts sweet, like tropical fruit, giving way to bold and invigorating spices as it hits the back of your throat.

Barrell Craft Spirits’ new Foundation Bourbon is more nuanced than its 5-year label might lead you to believe. This sippable spirit is a balanced 100-proof blend of whiskeys from Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, and Maryland. It kicks off with a sweet and honeyed fragrance, complemented by a spicy mix of cinnamon and dark chocolate as it hits your tongue.

There’s an art to infusing spirits with spices and fresh ingredients. This 1800 Tequila does it the right way, starting with the distiller’s signature double-distilled 1800 Blanco Tequila made from 100% Weber blue agave, then infusing it on site using ripe cucumbers an jalapeños to impart natural flavors without pulp residue.

Still hanging tough this Dry January? Seedlip Notas de Agave has your back with its zero-alcohol alternative blend of prickly pear, lime, and agave flavors to replace hankerings for tequila cocktails. It warms the palate with notes of vanilla, damiana flower, and peppercorn and is meant to mix with tonic or other NA ingredients.

Bourbon and chocolate are a brilliant taste pairing, so Woodford Reserve’s Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall paired up with Compartés chocolatier Jonathan Grahn to create a limited-edition of four truffle flavors to complement a 750 ml Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon: butterscotch chocolate, oak-smoked salt caramel, pear nutmeg, and maple pecan.

Following in the footsteps of their Indigo Gin, Empress 1908’s Elderflower Rose Gin pays homage to the distillery’s home city of Victoria, BC, AKA the City of Gardens. Inspired by Victoria’s flowers, Empress Elderflower Rose Gin has a bright floral bouquet of nine botanicals, including red rose petals, elderflowers, lavender, and black carrot.

WhistlePig founder Raj Bhakta is the talent behind this eponymous spirit. Bhakta 1928 is a delicious drink that combines 60% rye whiskey, 30% XO Calvados, and 10% Armagnac. The latter blends vintages dating back as far as 1928. The result is a complex blend of spiced apples, tea, vanilla, and gingerbread, perfect for slow sipping by the fireplace.

For 2023’s special release, master blender Trudiann Branker crafted Mount Gay Rum PX Sherry Cask from pot and column still rums that were aged in American whiskey casks for 20 years. Barbados’ tropical heat and humidity worked like magic, especially while the rum spent an extra year in Pedro Ximenez Sherry wine casks.

Created by the Maison Brillet House in France’s Anjou region, Belle de Brillet is a pear and cognac liqueur that combines the intense fruitiness of Williams pear eaux-de-vie with the delicate complexity of Cognac eaux-de-vie to create an exceptional gold-medal winner at a low ABV. 100% natural ingredients.

Founded in 1815 on the wild, remote Scottish Isle of Islay, Ardbeg whisky has an irrepressible spirit with a ‘rollercoaster’ history that survived against the odds after shuttering in 1981. Eight years later, new owners rescued the distillery, and the stills sang once more. The Ardbeg The Rollercoaster handcrafted wooden box marks the distillery’s new era.

The 30-year dream of Dassai sake’s founder, Dassai Blue, is their first American brewery, now producing its first American-made sake. Dassai Blue is a premium Junmai Daiginjo sake made with Yamada Nishiki rice — the gold standard for sake — through traditional methods such as “tokomomi,” drying the rice by hand.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson put his considerable muscle behind Teremana Small Batch Tequila, and he has a bunch of gold medals to show for it. It’s def a winner, with no sugars, carbs, or gluten. With a 1.5 oz. shot having just 96 calories, you might as well make it a double.

Since 1865, Don Q has consistently delivered great rums. Don Q Reserva 7 is a robust Puerto Rican blend of rums aged in American white oak barrels for seven years. Rich in flavor, it’s just the ticket for seasonal hot drinks like Hot Buttered Rum and many other tasty cocktails.

Made in Scotland with infusions of rose and cucumber, Hendrick’s Gin is unusually smooth and much more than just juniper berry flavored. Hendrick’s 10 other botanicals are chamomile, elderflower, lemon peel, orange peel, caraway, coriander, cubeb berries, angelica root, yarrow root, and orris root. To make one gin, they actually make two.

Mezcal is a unique and multi-faceted spirit with a storied past and a bright future. Distilled to be served neat, on the rocks or in cocktails, sweet and smoky Mezcal Unión Uno is blended from two types of agave Espadin (taking 6-8 years to reach maturity) and Curial (8 to 20 years to maturity).

Gin has been an anchor in Holland America Line’s history dating back to the cruise company’s start 150 years ago. To toast its big anniversary, HAL launched De Lijn gin to be exclusively served and sold on board its fleet. The result is a premium gin made in America and inspired by the Netherlands.

Lalo Tequila was co-founded by Eduardo ‘Lalo’ González, the grandson of tequila pioneer Don Julio. Lalo uses a traditional cooking method and just three ingredients: hand-picked agave from the Jalisco highlands, yeast, and water. Unlike many tequila labels, Lalo distills the agave only twice, and doesn’t add sugar, artificial flavors or additives.

A tasty tequila has joined the Campari Group and (surprise!) it’s not an aged anejo. Mayenda Tequila is a rarity: a young blanco made to be equally good for sipping or mixing. How? Mayenda captures flavors of cooked agave by adding two extra steps before distillation: maceration and the addition of agave miel.

A multi-platinum star without a booze brand is like a day without sunshine. Or, in this case a day without a Tequila Sunrise. Not only does Bay Area hip-hop star E-40 have his own Blanco, Reposado and Anejo tequilas — he named them after himself: E. Cuarenta literally means E-40 in Spanish.