There are very few constants in life: death and the arrival of Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book; now in its 49th year of serving as a sobering reminder that you really do not know as much about wine as you think you do. The guide has become as dependable as sunrise, albeit slightly denser and printed in a font size calibrated for the eyesight of a 15th-century monk.

Milam & Greene is well-known for its melding of the whiskeys of Kentucky and Texas (and sometimes Tennessee) into enchanting blends that straddle the regions from whence they are born. Master blender Heather Greene also regularly touts her unique "Texification" approach, which involves bringing Kentucky distillate to age for years in the blazing Texas heat, giving a certain heft to what might otherwise be a more traditional Kentucky-style bourbon.

Last month, we reviewed an Alfrocheiro wine from Portugal’s Tabodella winery, a pleasant and serviceable wine slightly deviating from the common Portuguese offerings. This month, we are trying its Villae offering, which is a red blend consisting of 40% Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), 20% Jaen (Mencia), 20% Tinta Pinheira (Rufete), and 20% Alfrocheiro (Alfrocheiro) grapes. This wine opens with steady but measured elegance, with aromas unfolding gradually from violet to cracked pepper, and ripe plum as it evolves in the glass.

Olujo is a new tequila brand founded by entrepreneur Adam Weitsman, in collaboration with Larsa Pippen and Oliver Camilo, "crafted with purpose, aged for perfection" ... and priced to the moon. Available in a single expression for the moment -- anejo -- the tequila hails from Los Altos agave, is cooked in autoclaves, double pot-distilled, and aged for 18 months in American oak barrels.

This year’s vintage of Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico opens with an assertive, tart attack immediately framing its personality. Aromas of Bing cherry and cassis lead the charge, eventually joined by rhubarb for a slightly edgy touch. Hints of orange zest and vanilla lend a bit of gentle softness without sacrificing the wine’s rather large personality. Dried cherry and orange carry forward toward the finish, where graphite and licorice notes linger and add a subtle depth.

Jack Daniel’s is more than just Old No. 7. While that world famous Tennessee whiskey – a bourbon at its core – remains the distillery’s bread and butter, they’ve spent more than a decade perfecting their rye whiskey. We saw the promise in early, younger expressions of their high rye mashbill (70% rye, 18% corn, and 12% malted barley). Those eventually matured into a string of hits that included…

Bulichella has an unusual story compared to what you usually hear from Tuscan wine operations. The brand dates back to 1983, the brainchild of Japanese Hideyuki Miyakawa and the woman he met while working in Italy in 1960, Maria Luisa Bassano. Together they started what would become a family winery, now in its third generation after more than 40 years of operation.

Lágrimas del Valle ("tears of the valley") launched a few years back with the goal of showcasing "single ranches" of blue agave to showcase how terroir influences tequila. It recently launched its fourth and fifth ranch, with 2024's La Loma and La Sabina joining Palo Verde (2022), El Chiqueño (2022), and El Sabino (2023). La Loma is the first of the tequilas in the lineup to come from the state of Michoacán.

Any spirits fan knows that Advent calendars are popular holiday offerings, a handy way for spirits fans to get their hands on single-serve size bottles of a products they probably wouldn't ordinarily purchase -- or, more to the point, have someone purchase for them. Flaviar is the first merchant out of the gate this year, with this impressive set of 24 whiskeys from around the world, each appearing in a 50ml vial.

Launched in 2019 by Latitude Beverages, Wheel Horse Whiskey has charted its own course from the beginning. Proudly transparent in its process, Wheel Horse blends bourbon and rye distilled in Owensboro, Kentucky, at the historic DSP-KY-10 — the 10th oldest registered distillery in the state, founded in 1885. Once matured in western Kentucky, the barrels make their way to Wheel Horse’s facility in Rumford, Rhode Island, where the whiskey undergoes further aging, blending, and sometimes, secondary maturation in a range of finishing casks.

One of Italy's best-known white wine producers (though it also produces plenty of reds), Livio Felluga rules the Friuli-Venezia Giulia area in northern Italy, and deservedly so. Today we look at a trio of bottlings from this operation which predates WWI. 2023 Livio Felluga Friulano Friuli Colli Orientali - Friulano grapes give this wine a delightful acidity and a gentle floral quality, featuring ample minerals and layers of spice, set against a backdrop of lemon curd and tempering honeydew.

Chapter 9 of Freddie Noe's Little Book project "takes us back several decades, to an era when whiskey as we know it was just finding its feet." That's the conceit for this blend of (mostly) bourbon and rye, which showcases "the backbone of American whiskey," per the brand. What's in the blend this year is fairly straightforward: 11 year old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey…

"Amarno" is not a typo. Rather, it's a clever portmanteau of amaro and, well, no, part of the growing N/A amaro space. Dr. Zero Zero is a "100% Italian" product, and it refreshingly includes all of the ingredients on the label, which include water, sugar, extracts of sage, quassia, wormwood, Chinese rhubarb, orange, and caramelized sugar. Citric acid, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate are all in the mix, as is E150d for color.

When it comes to American whiskey, the world’s attention naturally gravitates toward Kentucky. Bardstown, Kentucky, proudly carries the title "Bourbon Capital of the World," and with good reason — Kentucky has long been the epicenter of bourbon production, steeped in history and tradition. Yet, just a few hours north, a quieter but no less impressive whiskey scene has been flourishing in Columbus, Ohio.

Here's a funny origin story. Waterloo Gin got started in 2009 at Texas's Treaty Oak distillery, and it was sold by them until September 2024 when it was spun off from Treaty Oak and sold to John Paul DeJoria's spirits company. DeJoria is a big deal in spirits, having previously purchased the Patron brand and making into the bazillion dollar machine it is today.

If you binge watch Drive to Survive and wake up unusually early on Sunday mornings for car races halfway around the world, you may have noticed recently that more and more spirits brands, many of the whisky variety, are partnering with Formula One. Last year, ahead of the first ever Grand Prix in Las Vegas, Glenfiddich announced a multi-year partnership with the Aston Martin F1 team.

Figlia is a New York-based brand of non-alcoholic aperitivi, designed by creator Lily Geiger specifically to curtail alcohol consumption. In her "about us" narrative, she explicitly cites losing her father to alcoholism, and that she herself doesn't like the way alcohol makes her feel anymore. It's a bold introduction to an interesting brand which so far has just two products, both available in 750ml bottles and as single-serve canned cocktails with bubbles added to make a sort of Spritz.

Finishing casks — also known as secondary maturation — have become a hot trend in the American whiskey industry. With the seemingly endless variety of cask-finished options now on the market, it can feel like this has always been the norm. However, the practice is relatively recent. The first commercially released finished American whiskey dates back to 2007, when Woodford Reserve introduced the second release in its…

As the weather (barely) starts to cool, we're looking forward to heartier wines that stick to the ribs. Here's a pair from our pals at Paso Robles-based Ancient Peaks that could fit the bill. 2021 Ancient Peaks Oyster Ridge Paso Robles - A blend of 69% cabernet sauvignon, 20% cabernet franc, 5% petit verdot, 3% merlot, and 3% malbec. Quite well-realized, this Bordeaux style blend could pass for the Old World, showcasing a dense layer of earth and some gritty anise that counterbalances the black fruit in the mix, featuring heavy notes of cassis and overripe plum, culminating in notes of bittersweet chocolate, with nutmeg grated over the top.

The final release in Wild Turkey's incredible Master's Keep series is here, ending a run of whiskeys that began in 2015 and culminates with Beacon, a selection of two bourbons blended together, one picked by Master Distiller Eddie Russell and one by Associate Master Blender Bruce Russell. Per the company: Master's Keep Beacon is a blend of 10 and 16-year-old bourbons, each hand-selected to reflect key moments in the distillery's history.

It is almost hard to believe that boutique Scotch blender Compass Box has been with us for a quarter century. To celebrate their 25th anniversary, they recently released a commemorative edition of Flaming Heart, one of their earliest expressions and a bottle that helped put the Compass Box name on the whisky world’s radar all those years ago. Now, to be clear, this isn’t the 25th year of Flaming Heart.

Bhakta Spirits, known for its rare whiskeys and Armagnacs, is moving into another spirits category, and this one's a curious choice: Calvados, aka French apple brandy. Its inaugural bottling of Bhakta 1989 Pays d’Auge Calvados is its first-ever single varietal Calvados offering. Only 3 barrels are being turned out. Some details: Distilled in Normandy’s prestigious Pays d’Auge subregion and borne of 20 cider-specific heirloom apple varieties, BHAKTA 1989 Calvados boasts an astonishing 35 years of age on release.

The Lemon Hart & Son rum brand gets its curious name from the nickname of the brand’s founder. Lehman “Lemon” Hart transformed his grandfather’s German-based rum import business into a blending powerhouse in the later 18th century, eventually becoming the first official supplier of rum to the British Royal Navy in 1804 (for the 150 years or so before that, they sourced from random merchants and traders).

Founded in 2013 with a vision to revive Maryland’s proud — but nearly forgotten— rye whiskey tradition, Sagamore Spirit set out on a path few dared to tread. Backed by one of Under Armour’s original architects of hustle, Sagamore approached rye whiskey with the same grit and performance mindset that built a sportswear empire — only this time, the goal was to engineer greatness in a glass.

Here's a look at two new wines from Alexana, based in the Dundee Hills of Oregon's Willamette Valley. Alexana just passed its 20th anniversary, and we're celebrating with them with coverage of these new releases. 2024 Alexana Rose of Pinot Noir Estate Vineyard - Pretty and floral, with lots of strawberry and a smear of vanilla custard. Ample acidity keeps the wine lively and refreshing, and the fruit never becomes cloying.