School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
2043 curated reviews
Old Bardstown Estate Bottled Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Old Bardstown
Old Bardstown Estate delivers Willett's pot-still character in an approachable, no-nonsense package. It rewards attention without demanding ceremony — a bourbon that respects both the craft and the drinker. Hard to beat at this price.
Siembra Azul Añejo
Siembra Azul
A quietly excellent Añejo that resists the modern impulse toward heavy oak and sweetness — David Suro's Siembra Azul remains a benchmark for honest, agave-first tequila at a fair price.
Dingle Single Malt Cask Strength Batch No. 4 Irish Whiskey
Dingle
Dingle's Batch No. 4 demonstrates the young Kerry distillery's growing confidence. Bottled at cask strength without chill filtration, it rewards careful water additions that unlock layer after layer of fruit and spice.
Springbank 18 Year Old
Springbank
Springbank 18 is a distillery benchmark — proof that Campbeltown's last independent family-owned distillery still does everything in-house and does it brilliantly. The interplay of fruit, smoke, and coastal character is impossible to replicate anywhere else.
Woodford Reserve Batch Proof 2023
Woodford Reserve
Woodford's annual Batch Proof release is always a showcase for the distillery's character at full strength. The 2023 edition delivers remarkable depth without harsh edges, proving that high proof and balance are not mutually exclusive.
Domaine Weinbach Gewürztraminer Grand Cru Mambourg 2022
Domaine Weinbach
Mambourg is one of Alsace's warmest Grand Crus, and Weinbach's biodynamic stewardship extracts its full potential without tipping into excess. This is Gewürztraminer as a serious wine — structured, complex, and built to evolve.
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2019
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
The 2019 La Crau is exceptional — a vintage that gave the Bruniers extraordinary ripeness without sacrificing the nervous energy that defines this galets roulés plateau. It is the kind of wine that rewards both patience and attention.
Rhum J.M Multimillésime 2006
Rhum J.M
The Multimillésime 2006 is J.M at its most refined — a blend of vintages anchored by a 2006 base that reveals the depth possible when volcanic terroir, fresh cane juice, and patient aging converge.
Mijenta Añejo Tequila
Mijenta
Mijenta Añejo is stubbornness distilled and barrel-aged—a tequila that refuses to let oak dominate the agave's voice. Created by master blender Ana María Romero Mena and sustainability-minded founder Mike Dolan, this añejo represents an uncompromising vision: slow-roasted agave, extended fermentation, and careful barrel selection in pursuit of balance rather than trend. The result is a tequila that stands its ground between tradition and modernity, yielding to neither completely. Like the best expressions of resolve, it finds strength in patience.
Neversink Spirits Gin
Neversink Spirits
Neversink Spirits Gin is the product of mulish dedication to terroir-driven distilling in the Hudson Valley. Using a combination of local botanicals and classic gin architecture, this small-batch gin reflects the obstinate vision of its makers: no shortcuts, no trend-chasing, just relentless focus on balance and character. In an issue celebrating stubbornness made liquid, Neversink embodies the quiet resolve of craft — a gin that earns its place on the shelf through sheer tenacity of flavor.
Clément XO Rhum Agricole Vieux
Rhum Clément
A masterclass in how climate shapes spirit. Martinique's volcanic terroir, tropical humidity, and ocean breezes are woven into every sip of this agricole XO. Where temperate-aged spirits develop slowly, Clément's barrels breathe deeply in the equatorial heat, surrendering an angel's share that concentrates flavor into something lush and layered. At its price point, it's one of the most compelling arguments for terroir-driven rum on the shelf.
Larceny Barrel Proof Batch B524
Larceny
Larceny Barrel Proof continues to deliver exceptional value in the cask-strength wheated bourbon category. Batch B524 balances its considerable proof with enough wheat-driven softness to remain dangerously drinkable. A few drops of water bloom the caramel and pecan notes without losing any structural complexity.
Kilbeggan Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey Sherry Cask Finish
Kilbeggan
Kilbeggan's pot still range offers one of the most accessible entry points into Ireland's signature style. The sherry cask finish adds dimension without masking the barley-driven character that defines good pot still whiskey. An honest, well-crafted dram at a fair price.
Clos Floridène Blanc Graves 2021
Clos Floridène
Denis Dubourdieu — the late 'pope of white Bordeaux' — designed Clos Floridène to prove that Graves's ancient gravel terraces could produce whites rivaling the classified growths at a fraction of the price. The 2021 vintage, shaped by a cool, rain-challenged growing season, forced the vines to dig deep — literally and figuratively — producing a wine of uncommon tension and mineral intensity. It's a masterclass in how climate stress weaves itself into the grain of a wine, trading opulence for precision. Perfectly suited to The Stitch of Grain theme: here, the warp of Atlantic weather and the weft of deep gravel produce a fabric of remarkable clarity.
Balvenie 14 Year Old Peat Week 2003 Vintage
Balvenie
Peat Week remains one of Balvenie's most compelling limited expressions, proving that Speyside peat can be a whisper rather than a shout. The 14 years of maturation smooths any rough edges, and the result is a whisky that feels both familiar and adventurous. Worth seeking out before stocks thin further.
Hernö High Coast Terroir Gin 2021 Edition
Hernö
Hernö's Terroir series is the ultimate expression of climate woven into spirit. The 2021 Edition captures the unique conditions of Sweden's High Coast — a UNESCO World Heritage site still rebounding from glacial compression — where extreme seasonal light variation and subarctic maritime air produce botanicals found nowhere else. This is gin as geography, distilled proof that latitude, weather, and soil are as much ingredients as juniper and water.
Pasote Extra Añejo
Pasote
Pasote's Extra Añejo is a testament to how highland altitude, volcanic soils, and the extreme temperature swings of Jesús María weave themselves into the agave plant long before distillation begins. Felipe Camarena's stone-oven, tahona-crushed, copper-pot process preserves the terroir imprint that lesser productions would erase. The result is an extra añejo that wears its oak confidently but never forgets where its agave grew — a spirit literally stitched together by climate.
Domaine de la Côte Pinot Noir La Côte 2022
Domaine de la Côte
Rajat Parr and Sashi Moorman's estate bottling from their Sta. Rita Hills vineyard captures the cool, wind-swept character of the site with precision. The 2022 vintage adds a touch more generosity than some cooler years without sacrificing the nervous energy that defines this wine. Burgundian in ambition, Californian in its sun-kissed fruit purity.
Domaine François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Sec Les Bournais 2023
Domaine François Chidaine
Chidaine's Les Bournais bottling shows why Montlouis-sur-Loire deserves recognition alongside its more famous neighbor Vouvray. The biodynamic farming and clay-limestone terroir translate into a Chenin Blanc of rare precision — taut, mineral, and deeply satisfying. Drink it young for freshness or let it develop over the next three to five years.
Glendalough 17 Year Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Glendalough
This 17-year-old showcases what extended maturation in a temperate Irish climate can achieve. The spirit retains freshness despite its age, and the interplay between dried fruit richness and malt sweetness is expertly balanced. Bottled at 46% without chill-filtration, it delivers transparency and texture in equal measure.
Ron del Barrilito Two Star Rum
Ron del Barrilito
Ron del Barrilito is one of Puerto Rico's oldest continuously produced rums, and the Two Star offers remarkable quality for its price. Aged in reused sherry and bourbon casks, it carries a complexity that belies its modest positioning. This is a daily-drinker rum with weekend-special character.
Glenkinchie Distillers Edition 2023
Glenkinchie
This Distillers Edition demonstrates what Glenkinchie does best: gentle Lowland malt character given added complexity by careful cask finishing. The Amontillado sherry wood adds savory depth without burying the distillery's natural elegance. A textbook example of calibrated cask influence.
Monkey 47 Distiller's Cut 2022
Monkey 47
Each year's Distiller's Cut adds a secret botanical to the standard 47, and the 2022 edition brings a subtle aromatic shift that rewards comparison with the classic expression. The base architecture — 47 botanicals in precise harmony — remains one of gin's great achievements. This is precision distilling at its most expressive.
Sottimano Barbaresco Fausoni DOCG 2020
Sottimano
Sottimano's Fausoni vineyard sits in the Neive subzone and consistently delivers Barbaresco with both power and perfume. The 2020 vintage offered warmth that brought ripeness without sacrificing the grape's essential acidity. This is Nebbiolo that rewards decanting now or cellaring for a decade.