Taster’s Tips

There’s no getting around it: Seattle’s a long way from Scotland. Yet one sip of Westland Distillery’s award-winning single malt, and you could be forgiven for thinking you’d slipped into a wormhole that leads from SoDo straight to Islay.

Bootlegging stories are a dime a dozen in the craft spirits industry. But let’s be honest, many of them are a little…stale. It’s neat when a distiller’s great-great-grandpa was running whisky across Lake Michigan or smuggling rum from the Caribbean to Miami, but come on guys: It’s been almost a century since Prohibition.

Although the days of prohibition-era moonshine are over, more and more people are brewing and distilling their own drinks, and it’s really easy to get on board. Making your own vodka infusions can turn a basic bottle into a flavorful, personalized beverage to mix or enjoy on its own, and the possibilities are endless. Here are some tips help you get started:

Upstate New York might share a state with that big city to the south, but the rural land outside of Rochester, New York, feels a million miles away from the Big Apple. Instead of finance and show tunes, these towns and villages were built on a foundation of agriculture and manufacturing—and when major factories in the region started to close, residents began to worry that their communities’ vitality would dwindle, too.

New Orleans is one of the world’s most iconic drinking cities. It’s also one of the United States’ cultural capitols, home to a thriving culinary and bar scene, genre-defining live music, and, of course, one of the biggest parties in the nation. And now, thanks to Roulaison Distilling Co., we also know it as the home of some truly delicious rum.

Every great wine has an element of mystery to it, but Rioja can feel particularly obscure. Between the four-tiered classification system, the sometimes unusual grapes (graciano isn’t exactly ubiquitous), and the fact that Rioja includes red, white, rose, and sparkling wine, there’s a lot for even the most dedicated enophile to keep track of.

Well, today’s the day. We’ve got big news to announce, and trust us—this is something worth celebrating. In fact, it’s the kind of news that makes us want to give a toast. Hang on—we’ll go get the Champagne.

Smyrna’s Painted Stave Distilling has got to have one of the nation’s most unique tasting rooms: an old theater brought back to life for the purpose of making great whiskey. This grain-to-glass distillery is the first standalone legal distillery in Delaware since Prohibition, and it’s showing the world that distilleries can play a critical role in community development and revitalization.

Yep, this post is about the comedy. Kind of. Groundhog Day is a modern classic, not just because it’s funny and sweet, but because it’s thought-provoking. What would you do if you could live the same day over and over?

The Taster’s Club team was wondering if any of you out there are loving Game Of Thrones as much as us. We’ve found that a night in, watching our favorite show pairs quite nicely with a salty Islay scotch. A must try!

The Irish have been honing their distillation skills for oh, about a millennium or so. During most of that time, whiskey has been the tipple of choice, but it’s no real surprise that the Irish would turn their attention to vodka one of these days—and that when they did, they’d knock it out of the park.

We’ve all dreamed of quitting our jobs to do our own thing, but few of us actually take the plunge. But Jacob Gluck, founder of Goza Tequila, managed to pull it off, creating an award-winning tequila brand without a shred of pretension. We love sharing Goza’s friendly vibes and sweet, full flavor with our tequila club members, so we caught up with Jacob to learn more about how Goza got off the ground, how the tequila is made, and what makes the brand so special.