A Flowery Song

Background: The world’s second-best-selling gin brand. Has a bit of colour to remind you that it’s lightly aged in oak barrels.

Nose: Juniper, gingery spice, and orange peel.

Taste: Mellow and vanilla-influenced, with a fair amount of citrus that doesn’t overpower the juniper. Also a distinct impression of coriander.

Overall: Better than I expected. For the price this is going to be a hard one to beat; while the flavour is a bit flat it’s still pleasant and gin-like.

Background: From a different manufacturer than the famous rum, but still Australian. Has a fancy pull tab top and is made with real ginger.

Nose: Strong ginger, sweet florals.

Taste: Pleasantly sweet, very mild bite. Despite the nearly nonexistent bite, the ginger flavour is in full force, backed up by sugary sweetness and a bit of fruitiness.

Overall: Very pleasant.

Background: Small-batch pot still whisky, lightly aged in toasted French oak. 85% oats in the mash, with the balance in barley malt.

Nose: Rich vanilla, walnut, banana, and coconut.

Taste: Silky oats and sugar, with soft fruitiness and a lingering finish.

Overall: It’s okay. It doesn’t sing on the tongue, but it’s an interesting occasional change of pace.

Background: Yatsushika are mainly a sake producer, but they also do a few varieties of shōchū, including this 100% barley specimen clocking in at 20% ABV.

Nose: Soft and fruity.

Taste: Oily and soft, lightly sweet with a lingering fruity finish.

Overall: Very enjoyable. Smooth and light.

Background: This lightly sparkling Australian white is predominately riesling, with 17% muscat gordo rounding out the blend.

Nose: Sugary green apple and pear.

Taste: Lightly sweet candied apple, with a nicely acidic backbone. Hints of tropical fruit.

Overall: Slightly offbeat, very drinkable. Drinking with chipotle hummus and whole wheat pitas.

Background: Semi-dry white from Vouvray, almost certainly Chenin Blanc (though the producer’s website is completely lacking in information, to the point that I’m not going to bother linking it).

Nose: Soft and lemony with spicy notes of ginger.

Taste: Semi-dry maybe, but (helped along by a nice hit of acid) there’s no cloying aspect to the hint of sweetness. Mingled flavours of nectarines and pears, with hints of citrus.

Overall: Fruity and approachable, with a very food-friendly profile. Nice and refreshing for the first summery day of the year.

Nose: Cherries.

Taste: Cardboard.

Overall: Ergh.

Background: Yes, yes, I’m getting to this a bit late. Short’s Brewing is a relative newcomer to the shelves of my favourite local beer purveyor, but they produce a wide range of often offbeat beers (with varying levels of success). Noble Chaos is a fairly standard Märzen, brewed in March and released in the fall.

Nose: Spicy hops and bready malts followed by earthy hops and treacle.

Taste: Slightly dry, medium hop influence with caramel malt backbone.

Overall: Drinkable enough.

Background: Lake Effect is a relatively new entrant to the Michigan wine scene, specialising in fruit wines. This one is made from a blend of blackcurrant and blueberry.

Nose: A bit solventy, with rubber and musty dark fruit.

Taste: Generic fruit, harshly tannic, and sweet. Bready finish. Rubber undertones.

Overall: A trainwreck. Flawed and exceedingly unpleasant to drink.

Background: They’re like normal shrimp crisps, but with wasabi flavouring.

Taste: The wasabi zing hits right off the bat, accompanied shortly after by some salt and umami. Vaguely shrimpy sort of flavour with a nice crunch.

Overall: They’re like normal shrimp crisps, but with wasabi flavouring. The concept of balance doesn’t really apply here (it’s more about the burn), but they’re fairly moreish.