Review: Mic.Drop Rye L20-01 4 Years Old

The latest Mic.Drop release from PM Spirits isn’t a bourbon but a rye, another young gun at 4 years old, sourced from Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville, Kentucky. Mic.Drop L20-01, which was released late last year, is drawn from just 5 casks of rye distilled in 2015 and bottled in 2020, made from a mash of 56% rye, 33% corn, and 11% barley malt. This is purportedly the first time Wilderness Trail has ever sold barrels of aged whiskey to anyone instead of bottling it themselves.

Well, let’s try it out.

Hearty on the nose, the whiskey has the classic punch of rye, all spice and pepper and dried fruits, impregnated with cedar wood and notes of dill. The palate is quite sweet but also impressively spiced, the notes of green herbs and fresh-cut cedar wood punching with some force. Then comes more of the fruit: Apple fritters in sweet cream. A splash of water does some good, tempering the heat and bringing out more of the barrel influence, including a gentle chocolate note that emerges on the finish. Hints of vanilla and brown sugar calm some of the unruly rye spice notes up top, letting the young but expressive rye do its thing with more of a sense of balance.

In the final analysis, it’s really fun stuff. Tough to justify at nearly $100 a bottle, though, but I presume you can convince yourself through whatever logic you need.

108 proof.

A-

The Best Cognacs to Stock in Your Home Bar

Don’t have a bottle of Cognac on your bar? You should.

Cognac—which is a type of brandy (we'll get to that)—has always had an unfairly snooty image. It’s the building block for the Sidecar and the original Sazarac—real down-to-earth cocktail classics. As a result of the French embrace of Black servicemen in World War II, they drank it often. Before it was getting shouted out by everyone in rap, from Tupac to Drake, Hennessy became the first spirits company to place ads in Ebony and Jet magazines. (It was also was omnipresent at my cousins’ weddings at Chinese banquet halls, where there was a bottle of Hennessy on every table, right next to a two-liter of 7-Up for mixing.) Cognac has history, and it's not just pinched-face old white guys in smoking jackets swirling snifters, is what I'm saying. So yes, while you can easily shell out thousands of dollars for aged Cognac in Baccarat crystal, there are great bottles at every price point.

Best Bang-For-Your-Buck Cognacs

Paul Beau VSOP

None of the Cognacs in this category are what you would call cheap, but the idea here is value. “Paul Beau VSOP is an exquisite spirit that sells for around $60, but what makes it a great value is that this VSOP is really an average age of 15 years old,” says Thorn. “This could be labeled as an XO, which would typically fetch at least $100.”

Guillon-Painturaud VSOP Grande Champagne

Similarly, Guillon-Painturaud VSOP Cognac is also an average age of fifteen years old, far exceeding the VSOP designation. “Line Guillon-Painturaud produces on her family’s 18 hectare estate, and she is one of the few female master distillers in Cognac,” Thorn says. “Her Cognacs are elegant and fruit forward, and they are ridiculously good value considering the ages that are in the bottles.”

Navarre Vieille Reserve

“Navarre Cognacs are such a treat. Jacky Navarre is a fourth-generation distiller, and his production methods are slow and old-school. He hand-harvests the grapes, distills in small batches, and does not reduce with water, but instead allows reduction to take place only in barrel over time. The average age is 40 to 50 years old. Navarre Vieille Reserve is around $250 retail, and it is worth it.” —Kellie Thorn

Straight From the Barrel

“...Hommage a Yves & Jean-Noel Pelletan, the rare cask-strength Cognac, has a boldness that belies the softly nuanced quality its category is known for.”

The 25 Best Bourbons of the 21st Century (So Far)

Bourbons have become increasingly collectible. Here are the ones you need to stash away.

There’s much to love about the world’s great Japanese, Scotch and Irish whiskey distilleries. But when it comes to innovation, the wily bourbon producers in the United States have been leading the way for years. In Kentucky and beyond, purveyors of America’s native spirit have refused to let the excellence of their existing products stand in the way of coming up with new ones. And over the last decade and a half, a plenitude of incredible new whiskey with a mash bill of at least 51 percent corn and aged in charred new oak barrels—the house rules for a whiskey to be called a bourbon—has come to market, some from brand-new producers, others new expressions from venerated houses. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered. Here are 25 of the best bourbon releases of the last 20 years.

Mic.Drop.

A delicious blend of 20 different casks of eight-year-old whiskey that offers multifarious flavors highlighted by maple syrup, coconut, cloves, and dark fruit. Mic.Drop. came out of nowhere in 2017 and now resides on the back bars of some of the country’s most prestigious drinking establishments. It’s easy to spot, too, with an eye-catching label designed by comic book artist Chris Batista. The follow up, Mic.Drop.2, was released in 2018 —140 bottles at $450 a pop.

The 9 Best New Rums to Drink Right Now

Spirits worth sipping.

Distilled from cane juice rather than molasses, rhum agricole is a different beast from standard rum, with a distinctly grassy, vegetal flavor profile. Cane-based rum can be produced anywhere, but the best-known expressions come from the French Caribbean. Pere Labat is from Guadeloupe’s Distillerie Poisson, the oldest distillery on the island of Marie-Galante. The un-aged rum, distilled to the high-octane “local proof” at which the natives like to drink it, is powerfully vegetal on the nose but much less so on the palate, where it displays notes of vanilla and mint in addition to the classic agricole grassiness. It’s surprisingly easy to drink neat or on the rocks and makes for a great change of pace in a daiquiri.

Geeky Cocktails: Meet the Man Behind the Artisanal Spirits Movement

Geeky Cocktails: Meet the Man Behind the Artisanal Spirits Movement

When Nicolas Palazzi quit his day job as a chemical engineer in 2008, the spirits world got a little more interesting. The French native had moved to New York City to manage a medical research lab, but brought with him a curiously intense affinity for rare-cask Cognac. Dismayed by the lack of like-minded, handcrafted products on the market in the U.S.—where the spirits scene was still largely focused on big-name brands despite a booming, more intelligent cocktail culture—he set out to learn the business from the ground up. He officially launched his import company, PM Spirits, in early 2011 with just two independent Cognac producers (Paul Beau, Guillon-Painturaud) and six products. Now his book includes profound Spanish brandies, grappa from famed Sicilian avant-gardiste Frank Cornelissen, and Mexican Fernet (a bitter liqueur).

Palazzi is being lauded by beverage authorities nationwide as the go-to for distillates of character and terroir, and Palazzi’s unique bottles now line the shelves of restaurant and bar greats like The NoMad in New York City, Jack Rose Dining Saloon in Washington, D.C., and Scopa Italian Roots in Venice, California. Had an interesting digestif you’d never heard of before while out dining? That might have been made possible through Palazzi’s meticulous sourcing. He talks to Vogue.com about cocktails, “geeky” spirits, and the six bottles he’s most excited about now.

The tagline on your website is “provider of geeky spirits.” What does “geeky” mean in the spirits world?

When it comes to spirits in general, one doesn’t buy a product, one buys a brand. They buy the marketing and the status that the label conveys, but they don’t have a gauge on the true quality of the stuff inside the bottle, how it was made, who made it, and why it tastes the way it does. So by “geeky,” we mean the other stuff. It’s made by real people. It has an actual flavor profile that is specific to the place in which it’s made and the ingredients it’s made from. It’s not sweetened to death, artificially colored, or made to be as innocuous as it can be.

From that perspective, it seems to be as much about supporting the little guy as it is about supplying cool products.

It absolutely is. We want them to keep doing what they’re doing. When you start working with somebody, and they’re distilling out of a shack or their house is run-down, and you come back a year and a half later and see that they’ve made improvements. . . I’m not saying it’s 100 percent because of what we’ve done, but there is something rewarding about working with real people and the fact that the money spent buying these products can go toward their living and the creative process as opposed to feeding some giant company. I have nothing against big companies, but that makes it more meaningful to me. And the other result is that we’re educating people; we’re getting the authentic stuff to the people who will care about it. We’re showing them what these spirits used to taste like before mass marketing existed and can still taste like today.

What is a typical reaction of someone tasting spirits in your portfolio who is more used to tasting name-brand products?

People are not sure what to expect. A lot of people start out thinking that they’re doing us a favor by tasting these products that they’ve never heard of before, but they end up realizing that there’s a world of difference. I had one buyer who thought he didn’t like Cognac, then after one taste of the Paul Beau VS, he lit up. He was all, “Oh, wow, that’s really interesting,” and, “That’s a set of aromas and flavors I’ve never experienced before.”

There’s something extra that happens in the brain with the sensory experience of taste. When you taste something new and you love it, there’s an emotional connection that takes place. At that point, the person is not likely to forget it. They know you’re not fooling around and will want to see what else you have in your bag, even if it’s not something that will appeal to their particular clientele. They know you’re not wasting their time.

Would you say that the movement toward artisanal spirits is picking up speed, like what we saw happen to the craft-beer category?

It has definitely changed over the last six or seven years. Before, nobody cared, really. If you take bourbon as an example, you used to be able find anything you’d want and more on the shelves for a lot less money because people just didn’t know about it. And now certain bourbons are unavailable and allocated. Spirits are becoming cool. Drinkers have started paying more attention to what they’re drinking. I think that’s good news for everyone involved.

What is the coolest cocktail that you’ve encountered made with one of your spirits?

In Texas, I saw a sidecar made with a single-cask Cognac from a producer named Gourry [de Chadeville] that I brought in last year. This Cognac is distilled in a wood-fired pot still and is 64.3 percent alcohol, so that is a pretty kick-ass sidecar. You can’t drink too many of them! And at Cane & Table in New Orleans, they’re making a daiquiri with a rum I sourced in Spain from the sherry producer Equipo Navazos. It’s a bold daiquiri and is totally delicious.

What’s the latest addition to your portfolio that you’re most excited about? The thing that we don’t know about yet but will?

Calvados! I was lucky enough to be introduced to Eric Bordelet, the cider-maker in Normandy. It turns out the guy has been distilling for a number of years but never released anything. He’s doing single-cask full-proof unfiltered Calvados, distilling from both his cidre and his poiré (pear cider). Plus, his mentor was Didier Dagueneau, the famed Pouilly-Fumé winemaker, so everything is aged in ex-Silex casks from Dagueneau. It’s incredibly cool and will be available stateside in the beginning of 2016.

Intrigued? Here are six unique bottles Palazzi recommends adding to your bar (or gifting a very good friend):

Navazos-Palazzi Double Barreled Cask Strength Spanish Rum
A 100 percent molasses-based rum from the Antilles. Dark, meaty, with a nuttiness derived from the Oloroso sherry cask it ages in for more than ten years. Finishes bone dry. Only 1,500 bottles produced per year.

H. Beudin Single Cask 18 Year Calvados
Calvados with a kick, bottled at full proof. Gives a sense of what the pure stuff tastes like when sampled from a cask. Selected by star cider-maker Eric Bordelet.

Gourry de Chadeville Grande Champagne Cognac
One-man operation led by Pierre Goursat Gourry on nearly 25 acres of vineyards in Grande Champagne. A young, bold Cognac reminiscent of ripe apple and smoke, it spends seven years in an ex-first growth Sauternes cask.

Domaine d'Aurensan 1975 Single Cask Armagnac-Ténarèze
Like a vintage-dated Armagnac on steroids, with zero sugar, zero water, and zero coloring added. Distilled by the Rozès family. Mature flavors of dried prune, leather, and earth, with a seemingly endless finish.

Laurent Cazottes Poire Williams Eau-de-Vie
Distilled from organic pears dried to concentrate their flavor and then the pits, seeds, and stalks removed. Only 200 half-bottles of this Poire Williams come in to the U.S. each year.

Frank Cornelissen MunJebel Rosso Grappa
What happens when Sicily's most emblematic natural winemaker makes grappa. Distilled in a wood-fired vapor still from volcanic Mt. Etna’s indigenous Nerello Mascalese grapes.

A Whiskey Unicorn for Every Taste

“Finally got to try my unicorn bourbon!” wrote one woman on a dedicated whiskey Facebook group in late July, uploading a selfie where she proudly displayed a bottle of Blanton’s Bourbon.

It didn’t take long for the resident whiskey geeks to, at the same time, question and criticize her argot.

Responded one man, sarcastically: “Who would [have] thought a 6-year bourbon at 93 proof is now a unicorn?”

While I likewise lament the current fervor for once-common bottles, Blanton’s is, in fact, a unicorn, if only because enough whiskey drinkers pursue it as if it were. Even if it’s not exceedingly rare and is debatable in quality, it nevertheless offers many of the criteria that construct the anatomy of today’s unicorns—allocated, boldly packaged, price-gouged.

There are, of course, different breeds of whiskey unicorns, some more rarely encountered than others. These days, most fall into the American whiskey category—consisting of Kentucky bourbon and rye— and, in the smallest genus of the unicorn kingdom, are almost always Buffalo Trace products. Similarly, any Japanese whisky from the Suntory distillery is immediately exalted to unicorn status in the United States—owing in part to a track record of truly sublime releases, coupled, I suspect, with the perceived exoticism of the hiragana characters on the labels. As is some Scotch, especially if it is jaw-droppingly expensive and packaged in such an ornamental fashion that it seems to signal it’s more an object to look upon than to drink. These days, after all, becoming a unicorn only partially relies on how a spirit tastes.

Here are 10 categories of unicorn whiskey you’ll likely chance upon while out hunting.

L’Encantada Armagnac, 1996

The Non-Whiskey Whiskey Collector Unicorns

Examples: Foursquare rum, L’Encantada Armagnac, Clase Azul tequila, Don Julio 1942 tequila

While many whiskey drinkers have a rigidly monogamous relationship with the spirit, there are certain offerings that might entice them to cross over. Typically, this occurs only when those products happen to taste just like top-notch whiskey—well-oaked caramel and vanilla bombs. Some, like the Sazerac-owned

L’Encantada Armagnac, 1979

Corazón tequila, are themselves aged in unicorn whiskey barrels, including George T. Stagg and Old Rip Van Winkle, for example. The producers of these spirits have even begun playing to the free-spending whiskey geek, offering cask-strength, single barrel releases (perfect for sticker labels) in handsome packages and, naturally, in limited supply.

What is Armagnac? Exploring Cognac’s Older Cousin

How Armagnac is Made

“Essentially, Cognac is more like Tequila, and Armagnac is more like mezcal in the way it’s produced,” says Nicolas Palazzi, owner of importer and distributor, PM Spirits, “but not in flavor [although it can occasionally share similar notes with the agave spirit].” Armagnac is a bit more artisanal in nature, and every producer creates a product to their own proof and style making it a fan favorite for spirit nerds.

Armagnac is allowed to use 10 grape varieties in production, but typically only use four: Ugni blanc, Baco, Folle Blanche, and Colombard; whereas in Cognac they use around 99% Ugni blanc. More variety in the raw material allows for Armagnac to express a diversity in flavor that Cognac cannot. When you also consider the terroir — the soil, climate, and hand of the maker — Armagnac truly distinguishes itself in character.

“There is something really interesting in picking grapes and making a product that has a true personality and seeing that product at a stage where it hasn’t become a very popular spirit [like Cognac] that has been modified to try to appeal to the general public,” says Palazzi. “Armagnac is very terroir-driven, it feels like you can connect with the history of the land and its rich history.”

In terms of distillation, 95% of Armagnac production is distilled with an alembic column still, whereas Cognac has to be pot-distilled, Palazzi notes. “Some are using pot still as well,” he says, although it’s a rarity.

After being distilled, the liquid is typically aged in 400-liter French oak casks — typically local, Gascony oak — and is then classified as VS, VSOP, Napoleón, or XO (Hors d’âge), depending on how long it has been aged for, with XO being the oldest age statement meaning the distillate has seen a minimum of 10 years in the cask. It’s also common for Armagnac producers to release vintages, like wine, but this will be more of a rarity as the category continues to rise in popularity.

After aging, the Armagnac is either bottled at cask strength, or proofed down. “The reason why Cognac is typically 40% ABV is to stretch out the amount they’re able to produce because of the demand,” Palazzi notes. “In Armagnac, you’ll find more full-proof bottling because they aren’t under the pressure of hitting numbers so they can focus on creating the best product possible [regardless of proof].” This means that each bottle will have its own distinct character, which isn’t always the case with other brandies.

Some producers to note are: Domaine Boignères, Château de Pellehaut, Domaine Espérance, Domaine d’Aurensan, but there are many others creating exceptional brandies as well in the region.

READ/LISTEN HERE

Cobrafire Eau-de-Vie de Raisin

An unaged blanche (white) Armagnac produced in the Bas Armagnac sub-appellation. It’s an undiluted, unadulterated expression of exactly what a French brandy should taste like. At 51.5% ABV, it’s also begging to make it into your next Martini.

PM Spirits VS Bas Armagnac Overproof

Importer PM Spirits teamed up with renown production house, Domaine Espérance, to release their own label of VS overproof (51.7% ABV) Armagnac. For the price you’ll pay, it’s an absolute steal and must-try.

How Craft Brands Can Succeed in the Covid-19 Era

Craft brands have been in the spotlight across wine, beer, and spirits in recent years, with products from small producers becoming increasingly sought after over mass-marketed products. Consumers are seeking out fresh discoveries, and are increasingly prioritizing the production methods, ingredients, and stories behind craft beverages.

But the onset of Covid-19 has presented a new challenge: While consumers are increasing their home consumption and retail alcohol sales are up, most craft wine and spirits brands have not benefited. As much of the on-premise sector remains shuttered and many consumers turn to e-commerce to limit in-store purchasing, there is no salesperson or sommelier to champion small brands or encourage the consumer to try something new.

ACQUIRING NEW RETAIL PLACEMENTS

While stay-home mandates and on-premise closures have resulted in retail sales spikes — as of June 13, off-premise sales were up 26 percent year-over-year for the entire Covid-affected time period — retailers are still working to manage this unexpected business shift.

“They’re still in survival mode,” says Nicolas Palazzi, the owner of PM Spirits in New York, an importer and distributor specializing in artisanal spirits brands. “They have no energy or time to do any outreach or take sales calls. They’re reacting to demand, and that demand is for mainstream brands because that’s what people know.” In the first six to eight weeks of the pandemic, most of Palazzi’s sales through existing retail accounts were for inexpensive items.

Ten Outstanding Cognacs That You Have Probably Never Heard Of

Cognac is one of the world’s great spirits. Its history dates back almost four centuries. Its presence in the U.S. goes back almost as long. It has been intimately intertwined with American history. George Washington was a fan. He drank it in his camp during the Revolutionary War and served it to his guests at the first Presidential Inauguration.

Cognac was the basis of most cocktails in the U.S. long before bourbon became the quintessential American spirit. Cherry Bounce and Fish House Punch, two popular drinks during colonial times, both featured Cognac. The original recipe for that classic American drink, the mint julep, was also Cognac based. The bourbon version did not appear till the late 19th century. The first American book of cocktail recipes The Bartender's Guide, by Jerry Thomas in 1862, mostly featured Cognac based drinks…

…France has hundreds of Cognac producers. The four largest producers, however, account for 90% of the U.S. market—Courvoisier (Beam Suntory), Hennessy (LVMH), Martell (Pernod Ricard) and Rémy Martin (Rémy Cointreau).

Most Cognac producers do not export to the U.S. market. Bottling Cognac to meet U.S. bottling requirements, 750 ml versus 700 ml bottles, is expensive and burdensome. Finding a U.S. distributor is difficult, especially given the relatively small volumes that they produce. That’s a pity, because most Cognac enthusiasts have little opportunity to taste the wide range of Cognacs produced in France.

Recently, I asked Max von Olfers for his recommendations of outstanding Cognacs that are relatively unknown in the U.S. Max, along with his sister Sophie, runs Cognac-Expert.com, a Cognac based mail order supplier of Cognac to consumers worldwide. The website features more than 1,000 Cognac expressions, that’s easily 10 times more than even the best stocked U.S. retailer would carry.

Below are 10 recommendations from Max, plus a couple of my own, of outstanding Cognacs. They range from relatively common, at least in Cognac, to quite rare. Price wise they range from under $100 to over $5,000 a bottle. All bottles are 700 ml. Max’s comments are below (in italics), followed by my comments.

Navarre Cravache d’Or - $110
Cognac Navarre Cravache D'Or

Cognac Navarre Cravache D'Or

I love this cask strength Cognac. Non-chill filtered, not colored or boiséd. No water is used during the aging process, and all the grapes are hand-harvested—this is the ultimate in artisan production. This Cognac explodes with aroma and has an evolving floral palate that’s so typical of a Grande Champagne eau-de-vie, 45% ABV, 90° proof/cask strength.

Boisé is a syrup produced from a mixture of Cognac, sugar and wood chips. It’s made by macerating, and sometimes boiling, oak chips with lower-proof spirit. The process extracts color from the oak chips and when sugar is added produces a concentrated syrup. When added to young Cognacs, it can make the spirit look and taste older than it is. The addition of boisé to Cognac is quite common among producers and is permitted by the regulatory body, the Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC). 

10 Recommended Bottles - From Absinthe to Sambuca, a Quick Guide to Anise Spirits

From Absinthe to Sambuca, a Quick Guide to Anise Spirits

The category of anise spirits is broad reaching. It encompasses a number of spirits types that deserve attention, but don’t always receive it.

For starters, sambuca and anisette are two spirits that seem interchangeable, yet are not. Since Italian producer Meletti makes both, we asked producer Matteo Meletti to briefly outline the differences, which basically boils down to production and regulation.

Sambuca is regulated by the European Union, while anisette is not. “So when a company produces sambuca, it has to follow some strict rules, while anisette is more open recipe,” says Meletti. This may have to do with the fact that anisette is a much older product, dating back to the 18th century, while Sambuca is more recent.

Larusée Verte Green Absinthe (Switzerland; PM Spirits, Brooklyn, NY); $127, 89 points. Pours out olive drab, then slouches to a lively light green. The aroma entices with a sweet floral note, while the palate is bolder, reverberating with anise overload and a tingly finish. Hit the right water-to-liqueur balance and the flavor profile becomes a bit more delicate and refreshing, tinged with fresh celery. Made with a neutral beet spirit base blended with a dozen herbs and aromatic plants.

The 11 Best Mezcal Brands You Need To Try

Tequila and mezcal. What's the difference, right?

Quite a bit. Both tequila and mezcal do come from the agave plant, and both are indigenous liquors to Mexico. But the comparison stops there.

NETA Espadin 

What's cool about NETA is that they work with small producers from Mihuatlan, Oaxaca, and the southern valley. For this particular Espadin (arguably the most "common" mezcal), they worked with master mezcalero Candido Garcia Cruz, who works with "quiotudo," meaning he cuts each plant before it flowers.

"This leads to better yields and develops a richness of flavor that is not found in less mature agave," said Jimenez. "It has a brassy, bright nose with a hint of fruit and flowers with a gentle touch of smoke."

L'ENCANTADA XO ARMAGNAC

L'ENCANTADA XO ARMAGNAC  - a collaboration between PM Spirits and armagnac cask hunters L’Encantada, this blended spirit is one of the most complex brandies in the world. The release is comprised of four different casks curated by L’Encantada with vintages ranging between 1987 - 1997. Each one was produced by distillers who create in the heart of their fields with a mobile alambic armagnacais still before the spirit matures in oak in Gascony. Only 1,600 bottles are available at a cask strength of 46.8% Abv.