Liquorice, Pine and All Things Fine

Wotcha!

I’m back in the saddle and so is NAN, so it’s business as usual. Let’s get into this week’s drinks.

Cheers,

Myles

In this week’s edition:

NAN
New NA Drink News

COCKTAIL
Lapos - Amaro Cola

READER SUGGESTION
Glen Dochus - Island Blend

Read time: 4 minutes 16 seconds

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NORTH AMERICA

BEER: Portland, Maine brewery, Shipyard’s highly popular Pumpkinhead is now going to be available in an NA version. (Link)

COCKTAIL: Chicago’s Sportsballer has debuted three non-alc cocktails aimed at athletes. (Link)

BEER: Talking of first non-alcoholic releases, Lawson’s Finest Liquids from Vermont put out Sip’N IPA. (Link)

WINE: New wine, from Wolffer Estate Vineyard in New York, with a dealcoholized version of their popular Summer in a Bottle rosé. (Link)

WORLDWIDE

WINE: Australia’s Heaps Normal launch their first non-alcoholic wine with High Hopes Prosecco. (Link)

WINE: Over in the Netherlands, Royal Swinkels venture into the non-alcoholic wine space. (Link)

COCKTAIL

ModSub thoughts: It was about this time last year I was heading to a fundraising event and had smuggled in a 4-pack of Lapo’s Citrus, anticipating the lack of non-alc cocktails available at the caterer’s bar. The drink quickly rose to the top of my favourite canned cocktails and has lingered up there ever since.

All of this dawned on me as I was driving back from the very same event in Central Oregon last week. By sheer chance, I had grabbed a handful of cans from my “still need to try” shelf in the basement as I was heading out the door. Those cocktails turned out to be Lapo’s new Amaro Cola. An odd coincidence given I could grab any number of different options from my stash. 

I’m not a big cola guy. Even less so since giving up alcohol meant my rum-and-Coke calm-your-nerves flying drink days were over. Every so often, though, I’ll order one and, to be fair, see the reason why so many millions of people drink them.

Stick the word “Amaro” on any drink label, though, and you immediately have my attention. Combining Lapo’s Amaro with their in-house cola recipe, this is a dreamy single-serve packed full of orange blossom, liquorice, cinnamon and a hefty helping of pine—a blend of bitter botanicals tempered with sweetness. And boy, does the liquorice and pine hang about on the tastebuds.

Another “vincitrice” from Lapo’s.

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READER SUGGESTION

ModSub thoughts: A few months back, I had an email from a reader asking if I had any suggestions for someone looking for a non-alcoholic Scotch or Irish whiskey that could be enjoyed straight. He had heard about Glen Dochus but wasn’t sure which of the three blends to try. I got back to him a couple of days later with some pointers.

First, that whiskey was super tough. Not dissimilar to the difficulty some people have finding good non-alcoholic red wine. Though, in the last year or so, even wine has got easier.

Second, that most whiskies on the market were more than adequate for non-alcoholic cocktails but weren’t built to be sipped neat.

Lastly, I passed on that I was a big fan of NKD Whiskey, though it was styled on bourbon, and that I had heard good things out of Canada about Mad Moose but had yet to try it. There was Orchard by Sylva, though that likely wouldn’t scratch the itch of the 1:1 he was after. Which brought me back to Glen Dochus from Scotland. I had picked up a bottle of the Export almost a year ago, but had yet to crack it open, though I had sampled it before buying it and so must have liked it enough to bring home on a plane.

A couple of weeks ago, he kindly got back to me to let me know how he’d got on. The Glen Dochus Export had proved “too citrusy” and lacked the peaty taste he’d been searching for. But, “I then tried the Glen Dochus Island Blend and really liked it. Had a peat taste which I prefer in my alcoholic Scotch so I will continue with this unless something better comes along.”

So, if there is anyone else out there looking for a non-alcoholic Scotch or Irish whiskey alternative, then Island Blend might just be what you're after.

Thank you so much to that reader for following up with me. And if any of you have found any whiskies that can be drunk neat—or indeed any other drinks you’d like to share with the 1,000-plus readers of this newsletter—I would love to hear from you.

EXTRA READS

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