PLCB spirits catalog changes for the week of May 23rd:
New in-store and online products:
- Bulleit Rye 750 ML (#030682, Online, $27.99)
- G'Vine Floraison Gin France 750 ML (#030671, Online, $29.99)
- G'Vine Nouaison Gin France 750 ML (#030670, Online, $32.99)
- L'Esprit de June Liqueur France 750 ML (#030672, Online, $28.99)
- Whistle Pig 10 Year Old Rye Whiskey Vermont 750 ML (#030668, Online, $69.99)
First, an administrative note. I changed some of my data import tools to make online items show up in the product guide more reliably, so if you spot any problems, please leave a comment and let me know.
A handful of
Domaine Select products arrived in the online store this week. The
G'Vine gins are extremely French: distilled from grapes, aggressively floral and fruity, and so flamboyant as to be controversial. They're about as far from the London Dry style as they can get while still being recognizable as gin, which means cocktail drinkers either love 'em or hate 'em. Technically speaking, though, they're superb and have received excellent reviews across the board. G'Vine is worth trying once, to see if you fall in love with it or scrunch up your face and mix the rest of the bottle with A-Treat. Visit the
G'Vine website to read what makes
Floraison different from
Nouaison.
Esprit de June is a relatively new liqueur made from the same spirit base as G'Vine. The primary flavoring is flowers from several grape varieties, putting it in the same category as St. Germain. The final result is a bit flat and overly sweet, but it could be workable as a mixer.
The last DSWE product in the list is
WhistlePig Rye. This rye was quite talked-about last summer after its introduction at WhiskyFest Chicago, and not just because it's delicious. It's bottled by Dave Pickerell, former master distiller of Maker's Mark, who started his own whiskey company in Vermont a couple years ago.
Rather than going down to Heaven Hill or Brown-Forman and picking up some bulk bourbon to blend and bottle as most new whiskey companies do these days, Dave went to Canada and found some 100% rye whiskey that was intended to be used in minute quantities as a flavoring agent in some Canadian Whisky blend. (Yes, Mr. Pickerell went from making one of the few bourbons that contains 0% rye to selling a whiskey that's 100% rye.) Although this whiskey was never meant to be drank straight, it's well-balanced, complex and quite enjoyable on its own. Here's a
random review which pretty much sums up what's in the bottle. Wine Enthusiast gave it an exceptional 96 points.
Does that justify the $70 price tag? Well...that might be a bit on the expensive side for a 10-year-old whiskey, but who am I to argue with all the whiskey fans snapping the stuff up?
Also this week,
Bulleit Rye finally arrived in the online store. It's a few weeks past when we expected to have it, but hey, it could be worse: I still haven't received the two bottles I SLO'd in April.
Tom Bulleit reportedly spent seven years developing his rye, and it seems to have been time well spent. The whiskey comes from Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI), not to be confused with the Four Roses distillery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, where Bulleit Bourbon is made. (Interestingly, LDI and Four Roses use the same high-rye bourbon mash recipe, as both distilleries used to be owned by Seagram.)
The result is, without a doubt, the best LDI rye I've tasted yet. Most ryes sourced from LDI, such as Templeton, taste overwhelmingly of the grain and are bottled far too soon. Tom manages to pull ahead of the rest, with a nicely put together whiskey that I'm very much looking forward to drinking. As soon as my SLO gets here.
On a final note, there is one rye missing from the list above: five cases of
Rittenhouse Bonded Rye were listed in the online store Thursday morning. It sold out within four hours. Yes, Pennsylvania's entire spring allocation of Rittenhouse was gone in half a day. (Another five cases went to licensees by SLO.)
Frustrating, to say the least. Please direct your complaints to Heaven Hill. The head of Majestic Wine and Spirits, the Pennsylvania distributor, had to make an in-person plea to get our allocation increased from two cases last fall to ten cases this spring. Out of the 1000+ barrels that were dumped, Heaven Hill could only spare ten cases for the whiskey's home state? What's a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?
Delisted SLO products:
- Citadelle Gin Reserve 750 ML (#506768, SLO, $34.89)
- Marolo Grappa Camomile 375 ML (#501330, SLO, $29.99)
- Pinnacle Citrus Vodka 750 ML (#051776, SLO, $14.49)
- Pinnacle Orange Vodka 750 ML (#051804, SLO, $14.49)
- Pinnacle Vanilla Vodka 750 ML (#052487, SLO, $14.49)
- Polmos Bialystok Wodka Vodka 1 L (#503356, SLO, $11.09)
Reactivated SLO products:
- Jim Beam Devils Cut Bourbon 1 L (#512454, SLO, $31.29)
So the Devil's Cut SLO code is back. And there's no minimum quantity. Call 800-332-7522, option 1, and tell them you want to order one bottle of # 512454. Assuming the order is filled within the required 30 days, you'll be one of the first people in the country to get this whiskey.
New SLO products:
- Beefeater Gin 375 ML (#512889, SLO, $10.89)
- Bunnahabhain 13 Year 1997 Chateau Lafitte Rothschild Cask Finish Islay North Shore 92 750 ML (#512861, SLO, $99.99)
- Bunnahabhain 13 Year 1997 Port Cask Finish Islay North Shore 750 ML (#512862, SLO, $99.99)
- Chartreuse Yellow VEP 5 Years Old 750 ML (#512815, SLO, $148.09)
- Comb 9 New York Dry Gin 750 ML (#512887, SLO, $40.79)
- Comb Blossom Brandy 375 ML (#512886, SLO, $31.19)
- Comb Vodka 750 ML (#512888, SLO, $40.79)
- Cupcake Vodka 750 ML (#512957, SLO, $18.69)
- Cupcake Vodka Chiffon 750 ML (#512959, SLO, $18.69)
- Cupcake Vodka Devils Food 750 ML (#512960, SLO, $18.69)
- Cupcake Vodka Frosting 750 ML (#512958, SLO, $18.69)
- Highland Park 15 Year 1995 Chateau Lafitte Rothschild Cask Finish Isle of Orkney 750 ML (#512859, SLO, $112.49)
- Jacquins Vodka Whipped 1 L (#512956, SLO, $12.99)
- Ledaig 6 Year Peated 2004 Sherry Cask Fill Isle of Mull 750 ML (#512860, SLO, $65.99)
- Mortlach 13 Year 1997 Chateau D Yquem Cask Finish Highland Speyside 750 ML (#512863, SLO, $83.99)
- Rhythm Citrus Liqueur 750 ML (#512856, SLO, $33.99)
The Comb spirits are actually distilled from honey, lending them an unusual sweet, somewhat floral nose.
Hot on the tail of Pinnacle Cake Vodka, the full line of Cupcake Vodka flavors are here. I'll leave the commentary to Eater.com, who writes "
Cupcake Vodka Merges Foodie Guilt and Alcoholic Shame Into One Sad Vortex of Misery".
