The idea of Last Drop is to source rare and first-class spirits, usually with considerable age. Some of these products – and in the company’s decade of operations, there have only been 13 releases – are extremely limited and seriously expensive. But is it worth it? Ken Gargett reverently sips a dram and shares the results with us here.
Ken Gargett remembers it as though it was yesterday: the aroma from this small glass was the most alluring, enticing, extraordinary thing he had ever smelled in his life. Indeed, the nose of a great Muscat is for him one of the three great aromas one can find in the world of wine (the other two being a first-class, mature champagne and a great Burgundy). In this story, he introduces us to the beautifully fragrant world of Australia’s Rutherglen Muscats.
A blend of rare single malts – the youngest of which was filled in December 1967 – The Glenlivet Winchester Collection Vintage 1967 is non-chill filtered at cask strength. It offers drinkers a rich and fruity nose with notes of apricot jam, sweet ripe peaches, and a touch of toasted almonds. And it costs $25,000 per bottle. Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle explains why.
Whether ‘Stalin’s Wine Cellar’ is a journey about chasing fakes, or if these bottles hidden away in the former Soviet Union are genuine, the story makes for a rollicking saga. And if the bottles are genuine, who really did own them and what on earth might they be worth? The tale takes us on twist after twist and has been described as “Raiders of the Lost Ark for wine lovers.” Ken Gargett couldn’t put the book down.
As well as being a superb bourbon, one of the great advantages of the Master’s Keep premium releases from Wild Turkey is that they are not prohibitively priced (these bourbons are in the vicinity of $150 per bottle), nor are they so limited that you’ll only ever read about them and never see a bottle. These are great bourbons intended for drinking, and Ken Gargett gives us the lowdown.
Should champagne lovers from around the globe be asked to name the greatest wines and producers, there would be a unique name that I believe would be on every list: Champagne Salon is one of a kind because this house produces only a single wine, the vintage Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs. Including the first vintage from the 1905 harvest, Salon has released less than 40 wines over the course of its history.
In honor of the end of this (for many horrific) year, let’s take a look at five of the great champagnes our nose-to-the-glass wine and spirits writer Ken Gargett highlighted in 2020 – and toast the start of a fresh year. Many watch enthusiasts often enjoy fine timepieces with a glass of great bubbly. And as Ken has considerable expertise in champagne, we can happily recommend some of the best tipples in existence.
Henriot is an interesting winemaker that often sneaks in under the radar, which is surprising as it produces champagnes of exquisite quality. The Henriot range comprises the NV Brut Souverain, an NV Blanc de Blancs, a Rosé, a vintage Brut, a vintage Rosé, the prestige champagne Hemera, and an outlier, Cuve 38. Ken Gargett pours himself a few glasses, reports here, and calls it a job well done.
There seems to be no argument that the 2016 vintage from Barolo in Italy is sensational. Very early days, and many of the top wines are yet to see the light of day, but this is a year that has wine lovers and collectors prepared to crawl over broken glass for their allocations. Ken Gargett takes a closer look for us.
It was literally raining down fire all around Y-Jean Mun-Delsalle. The high winds had caused the still-burning firework tubes to drift and come tumbling down onto the heads of a group of journalists she joined rather than into the nearby Charente River as anticipated on one stormy, blustery fall day in Cognac, France. But Hennessy’s “The Birth of Tragedy” performance art display by artist Cai Guo-Qiang still went ahead with a bang. A lot of colorful big bangs!