Christopher Null

1 week ago | drinkhacker.com | Christopher Null

Tennessee-based Chattanooga Whiskey has some out-there expressions as part of its long-running Experimental Single Batch Series, but experiment #42 may be the wildest of the series so far. The details:Made from a 5-grain mash bill, this finished whiskey was made with four varieties of malted rye, including a cherrywood smoked malted rye and a dark roasted caramel malted rye.

2 weeks ago | drinkhacker.com | Christopher Null

Wild Turkey recently made headlines for launching an odd line extension: An age-stated version of its standard Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon, with 8 years old proudly noted on the label. It’s particularly odd because standard Wild Turkey is said to be drawn from barrels between 6 and 8 years of age, so an 8 year old Wild Turkey shouldn’t be a dramatic shift from the standard. Don’t tell the secondary markets, though. WT101 @ 8 years old is rapidly climbing the price ranks. What’s the fuss about?

2 weeks ago | drinkhacker.com | Christopher Null

Bon Vivant’s California Sparkling Wines are designed to be high-quality but no-frills offerings, presenting celebratory bottlings that won’t break the bank. We tasted both expressions available — both of which are non-vintage offerings. Intriguingly, both are 60% chardonnay, 40% pinot noir. NV Bon Vivant California Sparkling Wine – Big apple and pear notes dominate a creamy, Cremant-like body, which highlights overtones of toasted coconut and the foamed milk resting atop a latte.

2 weeks ago | drinkhacker.com | Christopher Null

After aromatic bitters, orange bitters are easily the most commonly called-for bittering agents in cocktails today. There’s also a huge variety of bitters available on the market. Are they any different? Which is best? I put four big bitters brands to the test to see which was best. Regans’ Orange Bitters No. 6 – A 1990s recreation of Charles Baker’s orange bitters recipe, brought to you by Gary Regan and the Sazerac Company.

2 weeks ago | drinkhacker.com | Christopher Null

OK, who’s Barry? He’s Barry Berish, the former chairman and CEO of Beam — and a friend of Fred Noe. Berish died last year and this batch of Booker’s Bourbon honors his memory. Here’s some detail on what’s in the bottle:“Barry’s Batch” is made up of barrels from four production dates that were aged in 5 different warehouses. The age of the batch is 7 years, 2 months, and 4 days.