Drinkhacker

It’s a full dozen Blood Oaths we’ve taken now, and we have the scars to prove it. The Lux Row-produced series‘s 2016 release features another unique finishing regimen, this one including a portion of the spirit concluding its aging in Italian Montepulciano and sangiovese wine casks. The base spirit is a blend of three whiskeys, including two Kentucky bourbons, 9 years old and 12 years old, both with rye in the recipe.

Note up front that this bottling of friulano is a distinctly different wine than the standard Friulano from Livio Felluga, based in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia area in northern Italy.

Scottland’s windswept Isle of Harris produces more than just iconic tweed fabric. Since 2015, the Isle of Harris Distillery, the islands first and currently only legal distillery, has been making an arguably more iconic Scottish product, whisky. Like many upstart distilleries, gin helped to keep the lights on and the stills running while the whisky aged. Quite a good gin, in fact.

Image generated by Gemini Missoula sits at a lively intersection of mountain air, rushing rivers, and vibrant university-town energy. You’ll quickly discover a nightlife scene that feels surprisingly polished, especially when ordering Missoula craft cocktails. The city, historically known as the Hub of Five Valleys, boasts a population of nearly 80,000, making it large enough to sustain a genuine food and drink scene but small enough to navigate on foot in an afternoon.

It’s been five years since we first reviewed Mingle Mocktails, a fruit-forward booze alternative that we found, well, perfectly fine for a picnic or a teenager’s birthday party. Since then, Mingle has broadened its lineup to include Mingle Mood, a collection of canned mocktails that include lion’s mane, ashwagandha, and L-theanine, all sweetened with organic cane sugar. How does mingle perform with added functional ingredients — all designed to calm you down? Let’s dig in.

Maple syrup barrel-finished bourbon has become increasingly common over the past several years. In most instances, bourbon is transferred into used maple syrup barrels, and consumers may be told which maple producer supplied those barrels. Beyond that, there has been little movement in the category. Finding a maple-finished bourbon that offers something outside the usual playbook can be almost as difficult as finding Sasquatch itself. Stories of Sasquatch sightings have circulated for generations.

Port wine, but make it a popsicle! For summer 2026, Port house Sandeman and boozy ice cream makers Tipsy Scoop have joined forces to create a new frozen delight: a berry sorbet push-pop infused with Sandeman Founder’s Reserve Port. The pops are available exclusively this month (July 2026) in celebration of National Ice Cream Month, which seems like the perfect month for this. We received a six-pack of pops to try via Goldbelly and I can say they’re quite a delight.

Maggie Campbell has been making and blending rum for decades, first at Privateer and then at Mount Gay. Now she’s running her own operation, American Cane, which is a Louisiana-based blender with two rums on the market. Banter is billed as a “revival rum,” designed to be a no-nonsense, “low-drama,” good-value pick for cocktailing. There’s no detail on where the rums are sourced from aside from “the Americas,” but we won’t let that stop us from delving into their charms. Both are outstanding values.

Today we’re diving into Texas winery William Chris‘s new sparkling wine division, Rebecca Caroline, along with coverage of a new white wine blend, Mary Ruth. Watch for a full report of our visit to the Rebecca Caroline tasting room soon. 2023 William Chris Rebecca Caroline Dell Valley Vineyards Cuvee Brut – 60% Chardonnay 40% Chenin Blanc. Gently sweet, with aggressive notes of green apple, lemon curd, and quince adding a significant tartness to the proceedings.

Hendrick’s seems to have no trouble coming up with names for its line extensions, with monikers like Oasium and Neptunia a couple of its recent drops. What then do you call Hendrick’s first permanent line extension in nine years? (Orbium was the last to get full-time treatment.) Well, Another Hendrick’s is as good a name as any, I suppose.