Summer Sippers: Great Sipping Spirits For The Heat

When the heat rises, our palates desire spirits that aren’t too extreme in smoky, sweet, or spicy flavors. These fine spirits are a few that we’ll be drinking this summer. Add a few ice cubes if the heat really gets to you.
Jun 22, 2016
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    Floral
    Translated as "Field of Enchantment," Campo de Encanto Grand and Noble is a pisco from Peru. It is an acholado style pisco, meaning it is made of a blend of eau de vies from different grapes; five different grapes, in this case. Campo de Encanto is distilled only one time, with no water or sugar added.
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    Fruity
    The Laird family has been distilling apple brandy since at least 1698. Officially, records for the sale of their applejack date back to 1780. Their applejack consists of 35% apple brandy and 65% neutral spirits.
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    90
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    Smoky
    Ilegal mezcal starts with 100% espadín agave grown in the fields of Tlacolula, Mexico and harvested at nearly 10 years of age. Their piñas are roasted for 5-7 days in an earthen pit lined with river stones then the cooked agaves are crushed using a horse-drawn tahona. After natural fermentation, it is distilled once in stainless-steel alembic stills and then again in copper alembic. The reposado is aged 6 months in a combination of new and used American oak with a medium char. (SRP $57.99)
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    Rich
    Casamigos is a tequila brand created by friends George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman. They have chosen NOM 1416 (Productos Finos de Agave) to be where this tequila is made and agaves from the Highlands of Jalisco are chosen for distillation. Their blanco rests for 2 months in stainless-steel before bottling at 80 proof.
  • 6
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    Sweet & Fruity
    Domaine de l’Acajou on Martinique was purchased in the late 1880s by Homère Clément, who sought to produce rhum agricole after learning distillation techniques from brandy estates in France. Clément VSOP Rhum Agricole is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice in a single-column copper pot-still. It's aged a minimum of 4 years in a combination of new French Limousin oak and re-charred ex-bourbon casks.
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    Woody & Roast
    Don Q is a popular Puerto Rican brand with a large line and wide variety of rums. Their Gran Añejo contains a blend of rums aged between 3 and 12 years and Solera rums aged up to 20 years.
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    Hogo
    The Reserva Especial is a limited edition aged cachaça that builds on the popular flagship release from Maison Leblon, which is rested in XO cognac casks for up to six months. This special distillate is aged up to two years in new Limousin French oak casks, then blended by Master Distiller Gilles Merlet.
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    Rich & Spicy
    The name Old Forester was allegedly chosen in honor of a doctor named Forrester, who regularly prescribed the bourbon to his patients at a time when it was still sold in pharmacies "for medicinal purposes." However, the signature for which this bourbon gets its name and which is displayed on each bottle, is the founder of the brand, George Garvin Brown. This is made in both 86 and 100 proof versions.
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    Rich & Full Bodied
    Nikka follows up its Coffey Single Grain Whisky with a Coffey Malt Whisky. Both were distilled in Coffey stills at their Miyagikyo distillery. In this case, the mash bill is 100% malt. However, even though the whisky was distilled at one distillery, it is technically not a single malt. That category must be distilled in pot-stills. This product was released in 2014 in European markets and the US as of May 2016.
  • 1
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    Sweet & Rich
    Mark Edwin Andrews is an American who, in the 1960's, purchased, and with his wife, restored an Irish castle named Knappogue. He also acquired casks of Irish Whiskey which he aged and bottled for sale. Knappogue recently began to release age statement bottlings rather than vintage dating their bottles. This is a single malt whiskey that is triple-distilled and aged for 12 years in ex-bourbon casks.