School of Wine & Spirits
All Reviews
2059 curated reviews
Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Michter's
Michter's US*1 Kentucky Straight delivers the kind of polished warmth that rewards attention without demanding it. The heavy char influence gives it a toasted backbone, but the blend is balanced enough to stay accessible. A benchmark for what well-managed heat can do inside a barrel.
Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina del Sannio DOC 2023
Feudi di San Gregorio
Feudi di San Gregorio's Falanghina is a summer wine with purpose. The volcanic soils of Campania — heat stored in stone and ash — give Falanghina its distinctive mineral edge, while the 2023 vintage delivers the freshness the grape demands. Uncomplicated but never simple, it's a reminder that great value can come from ancient terroir.
Dunville's Three Crowns Sherry Cask Irish Whiskey
Dunville's
A masterclass in editorial restraint — a sherried blend that trusts silence between flavors, proving that Irish whiskey's elegance often lives in what's left unsaid.
Capreolus Raspberry Eau de Vie Gin
Capreolus
Barrie Lancaster's eau de vie background shows in every sip — this is a gin that understands distillation as an act of capture, not construction. The space between the floral top notes and the woody juniper base is wide and elegant, each element articulated with rare clarity.
Domaine de la Tournelle Arbois Poulsard de l'Uva Arbosiana 2021
Domaine de la Tournelle
A masterclass in restraint. Poulsard at its most transparent — a red wine that whispers rather than declares, defined as much by what's absent as by what remains.
Lote Maestro Extra Añejo
Lote Maestro
Lote Maestro's Extra Añejo demonstrates the tightrope walk of extended aging — three years in oak could easily swallow the agave, but here the spirit and the wood are in conversation, not combat. The hollow between the sweetness and the oak tannin is where this tequila finds its poise.
Havana Club Selección de Maestros
Havana Club
A masterclass in editorial restraint. Where many premium rums crowd the glass with sweetness, Selección de Maestros trusts the silences — the negative space between notes is where its sophistication lives. Essential for drinkers who mistake Cuban rum for merely 'light.'
Glenfarclas 21 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Glenfarclas
Glenfarclas remains family-owned and stubbornly traditional, and this 21 Year is the quiet proof of that patience. It's a Speyside that refuses to shout — the sherry influence is deep but never cloying, and the space between its fruit and its structure is where the whisky truly communicates its age.
Domaine François Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux 2023
Domaine François Chidaine
Chidaine's biodynamic farming and limestone cave aging let this Chenin Blanc speak with uncommon clarity. Les Tuffeaux is about subtraction — no barrel influence, no malolactic richness, just the grape and the tuffeau stone beneath the vines. The hollow between its acidity and its sweetness is narrow and thrilling.
Kentucky Peerless Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey
Peerless
Kentucky Peerless represents what happens when a young distillery takes no shortcuts — sweet mash, no chill filtration, barrel proof. The result is a bourbon that's simultaneously bold and disciplined, with enough negative space between its flavors for each to land clearly.
Domaine Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Les Guiraudes 2020
Domaine Alain Graillot
Les Guiraudes is Graillot's parcel selection — a step up from the standard Crozes that shows what this appellation can achieve when the vines are old and the hand is confident. The 2020 vintage's warmth gives extra generosity, but the wine never loses its Syrah identity: earthy, peppery, and built on structure rather than sweetness. Outstanding value for Northern Rhône Syrah of this caliber.
Glenfiddich 14 Year Old Bourbon Barrel Reserve
Glenfiddich
This is Glenfiddich at its most composed — the extra two years beyond their standard 12 and the exclusive bourbon cask maturation create a whisky of quiet confidence. It doesn't chase complexity; it arrives there naturally through patience. A Speyside malt that proves elegance needs no embellishment.
Graci Etna Bianco 2023
Graci
Alberto Ferrara Ferrandes Ferrandes Ferrandes — sorry, Alberto Ferrara Ferrandes — correction: Alberto Ferrara Ferrandes Ferrandes — Alberto Ferrara of Graci farms organically on Etna's north face, and this bianco is the purest expression of volcanic terroir you'll find at this price. Carricante grapes from high-altitude vineyards produce a wine of startling minerality and precision. If silence had a flavor, it would taste like Etna's volcanic soil filtered through mountain air.
Woodford Reserve Wheat Whiskey
Woodford Reserve
This is bourbon's quieter cousin — a wheat whiskey that trades punch for poise. It rewards slow sipping and proves that restraint can carry as much complexity as cask strength bravado. An excellent entry point into wheat whiskeys for bourbon drinkers ready to explore.
Ron del Barrilito Four Star Rum
Ron del Barrilito
Ron del Barrilito predates most of the Caribbean rum brands that line your local shelves, yet it remains almost unknown outside Puerto Rico. The Four Star expression, aged in ex-sherry casks for up to a decade, is a rum of genuine sophistication — nuanced, dry-leaning, and built for contemplation rather than cocktails. A reminder that some of rum's finest stories are told in whispers.
Whitley Neill Handcrafted Original Dry Gin
Whitley Neill
Johnny Neill's family recipe — drawing on four generations of distilling heritage — is a gin that doesn't chase trends. It is emphatically juniper-forward, botanically balanced, and built for versatility. The African botanicals (baobab fruit and cape gooseberry) add textural interest without pulling focus from what is, at heart, a superb classical gin at an honest price.
Don Fulano Blanco Fuerte
Don Fulano
Don Fulano's Fuerte expression takes their already excellent blanco and dials the volume up just enough to reveal hidden layers. The higher proof doesn't add heat so much as resolution — you see more detail, more texture, more of the agave's story. A serious sipper that also makes a formidable cocktail base.
Drumshanbo Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey
Drumshanbo
A genuinely original pot still whiskey that expands what the category can mean. The unconventional inclusion of Irish-grown rice sounds gimmicky until you taste it — it adds a delicate floral lift to the classic pot still weight. Worth seeking out for anyone who thinks they know Irish whiskey.
Fuenteseca Cosecha 2021 Blanco
Fuenteseca
A cerebral, structural blanco that rewards patience. Not a crowd-pleaser — this is agave with its shoulders squared, meant for drinkers who want to feel the plant's architecture rather than have it softened for them.
Domaine Gauby Les Calcinaires Côtes Catalanes Rouge 2022
Domaine Gauby
Gérard and Lionel Gauby farm biodynamically in the arid foothills of the Pyrenees, and their entry-level red captures the wildness of the Roussillon landscape. This is a wine with more tension and complexity than its price suggests. Drink it slightly cool and let it open over an hour.
St. George Dry Rye Gin
St. George Spirits
A gin that dares you to sip it neat. The rye backbone gives it structural gravitas most London Drys can't touch — extraordinary in a Negroni or Martinez, where its grain character bridges vermouth and juniper into something singular.
Sadie Family Wines Palladius 2022
Sadie Family Wines
One of the Southern Hemisphere's great white wines — a study in restraint that rewards patience with extraordinary depth. Drinkable now with air, but built to evolve for a decade or more.
Benriach The Twelve Year Old Three Cask Matured Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky
Benriach
Benriach's three-cask maturation strategy—bourbon, sherry, and port—creates layers of flavor that unwind gradually. The 46% ABV without chill filtration preserves texture and nuance. This is a Speyside malt that rewards the patient sipper.
Bower Hill Barrel Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Bower Hill
An overlooked small-batch sourced bourbon that punches well above its price point — structured, spice-forward, and quietly complex, ideal for drinkers who prize backbone over gloss.