999 (The Nines) is a herbal liqueur made by the Lithuanian company Stumbras. The traditional 999 liqueur was made with a total of 27 ingredients. 9 flowers/leaves, 9 herbs/fruit and 9 roots/plant bark. As is often the case with the successful herbal liqueurs, the producers release different versions of it with…
Pisco is the national drink of Chile and Peru and its production process is similar to the fruit brandy produced in many Eastern European countries. However, pisco is made from grapes and most typically from muscatel type varieties. Pisco is naturally produced by several different wineries in Chile and Peru, but…
Beluga is a Russian vodka brand that was founded in 2002. Vodka was launched by the Mariinsk distillery in Siberia, Russia. The distillery was founded already in the 19th century and is located in the city with the same name, Mariinsky. Beluga is classified as ultra-premium class vodka and has achieved…
Noy got its name from Noah, who, according to legend, landed his ark on Mount Ararat after 150 days of sailing. Noy brandy has been produced in Yerevan, Armenia since 1877. However, the name Noy was established in 2002, when brandy production was restarted after the collapse of the Soviet Union.…
Blender's Batches, special batches sold at an affordable price, were added to the Johnnie Walker catalog in 2016. The first of these special batches was Red Rye Finish, where distillate matured for three years in usual oak barrels was further matured for six months in barrels that had previously contained rye…
The French family company Giffard has been producing liqueurs and other alcoholic beverages for decades. Today, they have a selection of more than a hundred different spirits as well as a comprehensive selection of flavored syrups. Roasted coffee beans, neutral alcohol and sugar are used to make the coffee liqueur. According…
Vana Tallinn's cream liqueur series got a newcomer in the summer of 2023. The combination of tiramisu and spicy cream liqueur sounds very interesting. The manufacturer Liviko advertises the product as a "piece of cake in a bottle" and combines the best elements of both Vana Tallinn and the well-known Italian…
Cachaca is not really a well-known spirit in Europe and especially in Eastern European countries. You may only find it for sale in a few specialty stores, and even then only bulk-produced, blank cachaca from the largest producers. On the other hand, I have never seen matured cachaca for sale, not…
999 Herbal Devynia, made by Stumbras, is Lithuania's equivalent to Estonia's Vana Tallinn and Latvia's Black Balsam. The 999 series includes various herbal liqueurs with slight nuances. There is a traditional, lemon-enhanced, hemp-seed flavored and more bitter version. 999 Bitter is, as the name suggests, a drier and more bitter version…
There are two types of cocoa liqueurs, brown/dark made from cocoa beans and light/transparent made from distilled cocoa ingredients. Light cocoa liqueur is usually made from cocoa beans/fat that has been distilled to create a cocoa-flavored, colorless concentrate. The cocoa concentrate is then mixed with alcohol, water and sugar to make…