Awesome Spirits

Ernest “Papa” Hemingway wrote about lots of adventurous things, like bullfighting, hunting, and skiing. But there’s nothing he had more experience in than drinking, with rum being his go-to. Papa’s Pilar Rum honors the adventurer’s spirit by blending premium rums from the Caribbean, Central, South, and North America.

The Dominican Republic has a passion for passion fruit. So do the Florida spirits connoisseurs who created Chinola, a deliciously sweet ‘n’ tangy, all-natural liqueur with the juice of six passion fruits in each bottle. It’s lovely to sip on its own and plays well with others, like rum, vodka, tequila, and bubbly.

While tasting their latest barrels, Frey Ranch’s farmer-distillers came across a firecracker with their highest proof yet. The 140.18-proof Hazmat Single Barrel yielded only 126 bottles of dark mahogany bourbon, rich with notes of orange peel and oak. Drops 10.8.22 only at Frey Ranch Tasting Room in Fallon, Nevada.

Bottling at the whisky’s natural cask strength was the Scottish custom before the 20th Century. Nearly 200 years later, The GlenDronach revives that tradition with Cask Strength Batch 10 Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky, a limited expression that master blender Rachel Barrie aged in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks.

Two whisky cultures unite in each bottle of Glendalough 7-Year Single Malt Mizunara Cask. The rare whiskey expression was first triple-distilled from Irish malted barley in the Wicklow mountains. It then matures for seven years in bourbon casks before being transferred into Japanese Mizunara oak casks for another 8-12 months.

Beware, vegetarians. The rascally rabbit on the label hints that Bosscal Mezcal isn’t just made with agave, per usual. It’s made with meat. Organic agave is triple distilled in Durango, Mexico. During the third distillation, a skinless rabbit is suspended in the still, allowing the liquid vapors to pass through it.

Puncher’s Chance Bourbon is a knockout, a one-two punch of 5- and 6-year-old Kentucky straight bourbons made from a mash of 75% Corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. The 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition gold medal winner won a 95-point review from The Tasting Panel. We give it two boxing-gloved thumbs up.

Utah is better known for banning booze than for making it, so David Perkins combined his passions for biochemistry, bourbon, and the American West to open Utah’s first distillery since the 1870s. Whiskies are king at High West, including Double Rye which blends two distinct ryes: a playful 2-year-old and a sweet 16.

Jack Daniel’s is offering up its 2022 Small Batch Special Release, a potent spirit that deserves small and measured sips. Blended from 55 over-proof barrels of last year’s single-barrel Coy Hill, the whiskey offers 76.6% ABV and a 153.2 proof. Available only at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop and select stores across Tennessee.

The High Rye expression from famed Scotch maker Johnnie Walker blends whiskies made from a 60% rye mash with barley and wheat. It offers a spicy vanilla fragrance, the flavors of apple, clove, and toffee, and a dry but slightly sweet finish. Great for sipping or mixing in fall and winter cocktails.

Frey Ranch Whiskey from comes from a farm in the Sierra Nevada Watershed. There, Colby and Ashley Frey sustainably “slow grow” heirloom grains and distill harvests into non-chill filtered 90-proof bourbon. The mash of non-GMO corn, winter cereal rye, winter wheat, and two-row barley yields a refined award winner.

Celebrate special moments or simply class up the joint with splurge-worthy Bisquit & Dubouché VSOP Cognac (Very Superior Old Pale), an exceptional pour from France’s Cognac region. It’s pressed from the most prestigious eaux-de-vie of vines harvested from four main crus: Petite and Grande Champagne, Fin Bois, and Bons Bois.

Distilled from high-altitude Blue Weber agave, Casa Noble Tequila was a pioneer in the use of certified organic agave, even going so far as to make their own compost to guarantee its purity. The blanco tequila’s refined flavor and aroma come from resting in toasted French oak barrels instead of common American oak.

Inspired by the stars, Astral Tequila is a super-premium tequila made in Jalisco, Mexico from 100% Blue Weber agave. A traditional milling process uses a stone wheel to crush juices from agave fibers, which are fermented together to maximize use of the plant. Spent fibers are then upcycled into bricks for local communities.

The first legal American absinthe released after the U.S. ban was lifted in 2007, St. George Absinthe Verte shines in this misunderstood category. It doesn’t cause hallucinations or insanity, but the brandy-infused herbal elixir does have an unholy trinity of wormwood, fennel, star anise, and an insane 120-proof kick.

Castle & Key rose from the ruins of an old Kentucky distillery and now uses rose petals in its spring release. Rise 2022 Seasonal Gin cold-steeps macerated rose petals for 72 hours in the base spirit before distilling it with seven botanicals: juniper, tarragon, lemon peel, green peppercorn, almond, green cardamon, and licorice.