School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
2035 curated reviews
Old Fitzgerald 19 Year Bottled in Bond Bourbon Whiskey 2022
Old Fitzgerald
This is bourbon as living archive — nineteen years of Kentucky seasons inscribed into every sip. The 2022 release of Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond demonstrates that patience and wood can transform wheat-forward spirit into something approaching profundity. A collector's bottle that genuinely rewards the drinking, not just the owning.
O'Neill's 5 Year Irish Whiskey
O'Neill's
A humble five-year-old that punches above its price point, O'Neill's demonstrates how even brief years in oak can archive surprising depth. Its easygoing nature and honest grain character make it a reliable everyday dram or a versatile mixing whiskey that never overreaches.
Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre 2022
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
Dominique Lafon's biodynamic viticulture and restrained winemaking have made this domaine the benchmark for Meursault. The Clos de la Barre is their monopole — a walled vineyard behind the estate — and it consistently produces village-level Meursault that rivals many premier crus. The 2022 vintage offers immediate appeal with serious cellaring potential.
Velier Papalin 7yr Jamaican Rum
Papalin
Velier's Papalin 7 Year is a masterful showcase of what Jamaican oak aging can achieve—generous tropical character tempered by patient wood maturation. It bridges the gap between pot-still funk and refined elegance, making it an ideal sipper for those who want to taste the memory that oak holds. A compelling bottle at its price point that rewards slow, thoughtful exploration.
O'Neill's 5 Year Irish Whiskey
O'Neill's
A humble five-year-old that punches above its price point, O'Neill's demonstrates how even brief years in oak can archive surprising depth. Its easygoing nature and honest grain character make it a reliable everyday dram or a versatile mixing whiskey that never overreaches.
Spirits Of French Lick Old Tom Gin
Spirits of French Lick
Spirits of French Lick's Old Tom Gin is a beautifully crafted tribute to the sweeter, rounder gin style that dominated the 19th century. Its gentle sweetness and herbal complexity make it equally at home in a Martinez as it is sipped neat. For a theme of memory stored in oak and grain, this gin reads like a handwritten letter from another era—sweet, precise, and deeply resonant.
Art of the Spirits 8 Year Still Strength Extra Anejo Single Barrel Tequila
Art of the Spirits
This is a tequila that has surrendered itself to time and emerged profoundly transformed—eight years of patient oak maturation have built cathedral-like complexity without burying the agave's soul. At still strength, every layer of the barrel's archive is presented unfiltered and undiluted. A contemplative sipper that belongs alongside the finest aged spirits in any category.
Cornas Granit 30 Vincent Paris
Vincent Paris
Vincent Paris's Granit 30 is a benchmark entry point into Cornas—one of the Northern Rhône's most uncompromising appellations. It channels the raw memory of ancient granite slopes into a bottle that is both affordable and cellar-worthy, proving that great Syrah doesn't demand a grand cru price tag. A wine that stores the terroir's deep mineral archive in every sip.
Glengoyne Cask Strength Single Malt Scotch
Glengoyne
Glengoyne's slowest-distilled spirit, matured exclusively in sherry-seasoned oak and bottled at full cask strength, is a masterclass in how patient wood management archives flavor. Unchill-filtered and uncolored, it delivers an honest, uncompromising snapshot of what Highland malt becomes when time and oak do the talking. A remarkable value for a cask-strength sherry-matured single malt.
Augusta Distillery 10 Year Old Buckner's Unfiltered Cask Strength Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Buckner's
This single barrel from Augusta Distillery is a masterclass in how a decade of char-level interaction transforms corn-based spirit into something profound and layered. The unfiltered, cask-strength presentation lets the barrel's notation speak without compromise. A bourbon where every sip reads like a deep mark left by time and fire.
Luciano Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba 2022
Luciano Sandrone
Sandrone is best known for his Barolo, but his Dolcetto d'Alba is quietly one of the finest expressions of this underappreciated grape in Piedmont. Fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel, it reveals what Dolcetto does naturally — deep color, ripe fruit, and a structural bitterness that makes it an extraordinarily versatile table wine. This is where Sandrone's rigor meets everyday pleasure.
Still Austin "The Naturalist" Gin
Still Austin
Still Austin's The Naturalist is a gin that wears its botanical marks with confidence—each distillation note clearly etched rather than blurred. It delivers a classically structured, juniper-led profile with enough Texas character to stand apart from the crowd. A versatile and well-crafted spirit that rewards attention in a Martini or simply over ice.
123 Añejo Tequila (Tres)
123 Organic Tequila
123 Tres Añejo is a masterclass in how charred oak can leave its mark on agave without overwhelming it. The 18-month rest in American white oak barrels stamps this tequila with rich caramel and spice while the certified-organic agave foundation remains clearly legible beneath the barrel's notation. An excellent value añejo that punches well above its price point.
Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum
Hamilton
Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black is a masterclass in how charring and heavy pot still distillation leave indelible marks on a spirit. It punches far above its price point, delivering complexity and depth that rival rums at three times the cost. A workhorse that is equally compelling sipped neat or as the backbone of a serious cocktail.
Terras Gauda Abadia de San Campio Albarino
Terras Gauda
Abadia de San Campio is a benchmark Albariño that demonstrates how Atlantic terroir marks its wines with an unmistakable saline signature—an impression as indelible as any char on oak. Precise, refreshing, and beautifully textured, it offers serious mineral complexity at a modest price and pairs effortlessly with the coastal cuisine it was born alongside.
Powers Irish Whiskey
Powers
Powers has long been the bartender's whiskey in Ireland, and for good reason—its pot still backbone gives it a muscularity and directness that belies its modest price. It's a whiskey where the mark of tradition is seared into every sip, a fitting emblem of how char and character become inseparable.
Macallan 18 Year Sherry Oak Single Malt Scotch
Macallan
The Macallan 18 Sherry Oak is the definitive expression of what sherry cask maturation can achieve — each year of aging leaving its mark on the spirit like notations charred into oak. This is a whisky of remarkable complexity and poise, where cask selection is elevated to an art form. For the theme of marks that matter, few bottles make a more eloquent case that the vessel shapes the soul.
Driftless Glen Distillery 10 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon
Driftless Glen
Driftless Glen proves that patience outside Kentucky's borders can yield remarkable bourbon. This 10-year single barrel delivers the depth and layered complexity of a well-aged whiskey with a distinctly Midwestern character—generous but unhurried. It's the kind of pour that needs no explanation, just a quiet room and an unhurried evening.
Cihuatán Sahumerio Limited Edition Rum
Cihuatán
Sahumerio is Cihuatán's most ambitious expression—a rum that captures the meditative warmth of incense and firelight in liquid form. Its layered complexity and higher proof make it a contemplative sipper that rewards patience and speaks volumes before words do. A genuinely distinctive Central American aged rum that deserves wider recognition.
The Dublin Liberties Murder Lane 13 Year Old Irish Whiskey
The Dublin Liberties
Murder Lane 13 Year Old is a brooding, contemplative Irish single malt that trades the category's typical brightness for smoldering depth. The extended maturation has produced a whiskey of genuine complexity, with dark fruit and wood spice in beautiful balance. It's the kind of dram that asks you to sit quietly and simply feel its warmth — words can wait.
Tierra De Ensueño Barrel Rested Blanco Tequila
Tierra De Ensueño
Tierra De Ensueño's barrel-rested blanco occupies a compelling middle ground—brighter than a reposado yet carrying a gentle warmth from its time in wood. It's a tequila that radiates quiet comfort, perfectly suited to contemplative sipping before conversation begins. An understated gem for those who appreciate subtlety over spectacle.
Tulchan Speyside London Dry Gin
Tulchan
Tulchan Speyside London Dry Gin is a beautifully composed Scottish gin that marries classic London Dry architecture with the quiet confidence of its Speyside origins. It radiates warmth without demanding attention, making it equally compelling neat or as the backbone of a contemplative cocktail. A gin that speaks softly but carries remarkable depth.
Ferrer Bobet Priorat Vinyes Velles 2018
Ferrer Bobet
Ferrer Bobet's old-vine Priorat bottling captures the essence of warmth radiating from ancient llicorella slate — a wine that speaks before you find the words. This 2018 has reached a gorgeous drinking window where concentration meets elegance, offering serious depth at a price that undercuts many of its Priorat peers. A bottle built for contemplation beside a low fire.
Dry Creek Chenin Blanc
Dry Creek Vineyard
Dry Creek Vineyard has championed Chenin Blanc in California for decades, and this bottling is a quiet testament to why the grape deserves more attention. It delivers warmth and generosity without excess—an approachable, food-friendly white that offers far more complexity than its modest price suggests. A wine that communicates comfort before you even find the words.