For the last 250 years, Hine has been headquartered at Hine House on the banks on the Charente River in Jarnac. Hine holds a special honor given to no other cognac producer: in 1962, it was granted a royal warrant from Queen Elizabeth II to act as supplier to the royal household. And how does the brand’s Antique XO measure up?
Most of us, when traveling, might sneak a guilty pleasure into the luggage for the trip. A good cigar or two, a fine wine, or a bottle of malt perhaps. If you have a lazy £100,000 (or in Australia, an estimated $230,000), the highly regarded whisky producer Glenfarclas has done your packing for you by releasing the Glenfarclas Family Cask Trunk.
The fabulous Philipponnat Clos des Goisses is considered to be the first vineyard-specific champagne ever made, dating back to 1935 when the vineyard was purchased by Pierre Philipponnat. The house has recently started releasing a prestige wine from its prestige wine in suitable vintages – such as the 2008. Here’s what Ken Gargett thinks.
The 2016 is one of the most declared port vintages of all time. And deservedly so: Ken Gargett thinks that 2016 is a vintage that should warm the hearts of all fans of port wine and bring in many more new fans.
As Ken Gargett explains, to adequately describe a Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva cigar is almost like trying to catch the velvety smoke it produces in your hand. And it is dense, velvety smoke. The texture is as soft as cotton bud clouds. Plush and cushiony. Many describe it as the greatest cigar they have ever tasted, but, ouch, the price!
Wine lovers all enjoy the chance to drink a unicorn wine, and bottles from Australia’s Cloudburst are nothing if not that. Ken Gargett tells the story of an unusual winery with an unusual attitude and certainly unusual, though excellent and rare, wines.
The last of the 2018 Limited Editions has just crossed Ken Gargett’s path: the Romeo y Julieta Tacos Edición Limitada 2018. And while in recent years there have been overwhelmingly positive reviews for most of the Limited Editions, the Tacos has had a very mixed response. But, most importantly, what does Ken think?
Heidsieck Monopole Gout American 1907 is the world’s most expensive champagne. This is the famous “shipwreck champagne” and it has a truly extraordinary story to tell, much more interesting than simply the prices it has achieved.
Foursquare from Barbados offers a fine range of different rums, including some vintage bottlings that do not hit the shelves until they have had at least a solid decade of aging in barrel. Ken Gargett describes what else this interesting producer with a long history in the Caribbean has to offer.
Anyone who expresses even so much as a fleeting interest in great wine will soon come across Krug, for many the greatest champagne of all. And there are champagne lovers and then there are devotees of Krug: Krugists. Ken Gargett doubts that any other champagne, any wine, has a word to designate their adoring fans. Here he explains why.