Author: James Hills

Norwegian Cruise Line’s latest and greatest ship just set its US inaugural voyage. The Prima was just launched earlier in the fall of 2022 in Iceland. We just it sailed from New York to Halifax.

This is their most luxurious offering to date and while some folks may miss the “fun in the sun” party vibe found on their previous vessels, as someone who loves fine spirits and a well-crafted cocktail as well as the occasional cigar – I was in for a treat. Here are four things that spirits lovers will enjoy while sailing on Norwegian Prima.

While other cruise lines are catering to kids and families, Norwegian is offering an alternative experience and has decidedly targeted a more upscale audience. Unlike every other cruise line that keeps going bigger and bigger – at 142,500 gross tons and 3,215 guests at double occupancy, it is actually considerably smaller than its predecessor, Norwegian Encore which comes in at 169,145 gross tons and nearly 4,000 guests.

Luxury Cruise Experience On A Big Ship

Along with this, as you walk around it is clear that this is something more than just a Caribbean booze cruise experience. Everything from the chairs to the millions of dollars of artwork speaks to an elevated experience that rarely exists outside of small ship experiences like Norwegian’s sister brand, Oceania Cruises.

This thankfully extends to a carefully crafted cocktail program where they have even switched from standard barware glasses to Riedel. This may be a small change that most cruises will never notice but it was a welcome addition that brings the feel of the cocktail glass in your hand to the same level of the bartender serving it to you in “The Whiskey Bar”.

Cocktails On Tap

One of the challenges that all cruise lines are facing right now is staffing and supply chain issues. This is true on luxury small ships as well as bargain basement lines alike. It has frustrated me personally to request a favorite cocktail, only to be met with, “I’m sorry sir – we’re out of [ingredient]”.

Likewise, a few months ago on a different cruise, I had some of the absolute worst cocktails that I’ve ever experienced at sea … but the next day a different bartender served up perfect ones.

With Norwegian’s investment into Cocktails On Tap, they are able to deliver precision-crafted cocktails that are made fresh daily and they are delivered quickly and perfectly made each time.

While they tend to be sweeter and lower in alcohol, they are also very very good!

This concept obviously works better in some venues than others, so on Prima, they have also introduced Bottled Cocktails which are essentially the same as the On Tap program but served to you in a small bottle that is then poured into your glass in front of you.

Little touches like this are a welcome addition to their overall cocktail program since we already know that Norwegian is among the best at sea when it comes to their bar staff’s skills.

Sustainable Cocktails

Just before the pandemic when we were on the inaugural cruise for Norwegian Encore they introduced a concept program to promote their sustainability program. This included cocktails made from pineapple pieces and day-old pastries that would otherwise have been discarded. Instead of creating more waste, they were able to reuse these items as components to feature in various cocktails.

As much as I support this idea – it was pretty silly to think that even the most thirsty group of travelers would have a major impact on reducing waste in this way.

While on Norwegian Prima though, they introduced an entire program at the Metropolitan Bar based around this concept. This included not just more cocktail options but also a portfolio of featured brands that they have decided meet their threshold for being examples of sustainability. would be growing and featuring. This includes brands like Flor de Cana ECO rum and Star Rum but also a house brand that the line is growing called ‘66 By Norwegian.

The new private label house brand ‘66 Gin was introduced here, along with their new ‘66 beer which was available on draft.

The Whiskey Bar

We love Norwegian’s efforts towards sustainability and ready-to-drink cocktails but sometimes all you want is a perfectly prepared Old Fashioned or maybe you just need a premium Scotch to sip on while talking with friends about your plans for the next day’s adventures. Thankfully, Prima excels here as well with the appropriately branded “The Whiskey Bar.”

Located mid-ship, this quickly became my favorite place on the ship since it was located in a perfect location and had plenty of seats around the bar as well as even more comfortable chairs spread throughout the space as well.

Whiskies available here include premium spirits like Macallan Terra as well as more affordable options from all of your favorite brands such as Makers Mark, Woodford, Talisker, Dewars, and Jameson.

While we were sad that this venue replaces the classic Maltings Whiskey Bar found on other Norwegian Ships, I welcome the addition of a brighter and more fun space vs the darker more intimate Maltings.

Excellent Cigar Bar Experience

Technically the cigar area isn’t a bar and it is also no longer an extension of Maltings like it is on the previous few vessels. Additionally, it no longer has a door that leads directly to the open deck.

However, ventilation seemed excellent and it is located directly adjacent to the Metropolitan Bar where we found one of our absolute favorite Norwegian Cruise Line bartenders whipping up sustainable cocktails and some of the best rum drinks found anywhere on the ship. Don’t worry though, for you Tequila, Scotch, and Bourbon guys Metropolitan Bar is fully stocked with sustainable brands and they can bring pretty much anything else into that space that you might desire.

Overall, it was quite impressive to see the evolution of Norwegian’s drinks program and how they’ve twisted it from something focused on Caribbean fun-in-the-sun into a much more upscale experience. We had an incredible experience cruising the cold waters of Canada and New England and this would be an equally excellent ship for an Alaska cruise, but it will be interesting to see what the ship is like in warmer waters where we’ll want to enjoy Mai Tai’s and frozen cocktails alongside our Old Fashioneds.

I’m not worried about that though since I already know they can do that. This though, is something new and a welcome addition to big ship cruising and I like it!

Written by James Hills

James Hills is the founder and publisher of ManTripping.com. It is the top Men’s Lifestyle & Travel Blog covering food, wine, spirits, fishing, trucks, gadgets, sports, and fashion for men, dads, & the women who love us.

The post Five Things Spirits Lovers Will Enjoy About Norwegian Prima first appeared on BourbonBlog.

 

There are a lot of craft distillers in the United States today and thankfully the market for independent spirits producers shows no signs of slowing down. Americans – as well as others around the world – are recognizing the value of craftsmanship, unique stories, and innovators who are trying new twists on the ancient practice of turning sugar into alcohol. However, there are few out there that are true rockstars who manage to combine business acumen with creative prowess and scientific expertise to not only craft but market and sell their wares at an industry-leading level.

Among those who have managed to assemble a team that can do that, fewer still have the political experience to help craft laws and guide fellow entrepreneurs in a way that ultimately leads the entire industry forward. … or at least for those of us in California like myself.

Cris Steller. founder and owner of Dry Diggings Distillery is one of those rare people and he is leading a team that is not just producing a full portfolio under his own label but is also working with some of the biggest “celebrity” whiskey brands out there.

Dry Diggings is located in El Dorado County, near Placerville, CA which sits between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. In fact to add a bit of color to the story – the name Placerville is only a recent name. Previously the area was known as Hangtown and before that Dry Diggings due to the non-river mining activity that happened before the big gold rush in 1849.

That’s right, this is a fabled area where gold was discovered in 1848 and Sutter Mill, along with the Gold Discovery Park is just minutes away.

Today though, the story has moved away from gold, and the county hosts more than 1,300 farms producing crops that include grapes, apples, and walnuts. However, they enjoy proximity to California’s central valley where they can source pretty much anything imaginable within just an hour or so from the distillery.

That gives Chris and the team at Dry Diggings a great opportunity to produce what he calls “Grain to Glass” spirits.

They were established in 2008 and opened to the public in 2015. They are currently in the planning stages of opening a restaurant so that they can secure a more liberal license that would allow visitors to enjoy a wider range of their spirits.

Upon arriving at his rather nondescript industrial park location I frankly wasn’t prepared to find what we discovered inside. It isn’t that it was in a bad part of town or that it was the first such location that I’d found a distillery. In fact, this setting is pretty common here in California for distillers and brewers. However, like one of those special hidden secret bottles that you look at on the shelf but might not buy unless your friend tells you about it … inside the building was a remarkable “Wild West” style saloon bar that was completely stocked with his product.

Again, this is somewhat remarkable since I’ve visited plenty of distillers who have 5, 10, or 20 different bottles across different spirits types but generally speaking most of those folks really only have 1 or maybe 2 bottles that stand out.

Here though, as we tasted our way through small “tongue wetter” samples it quickly became clear that Chris understood whiskey – but also vodka, gin, rum, brandy, and even some lesser-known regional favorites like apple jack.

Among these, his pride and joy is Rubicon Rye Whiskey, which we bought a bottle of to take home with us but it was a close call between that and their AppleJack (brandy).

Everything here that we tasted beckoned me to try more but that’s part of what makes road trips fun and exciting, … you always have to leave something to come back to!

NOTE: California law is very strict on the number of tastings in a distillery and I was driving so my goal was to be as safe as possible. I can’t wait to come back and try more when they open up their restaurant and saloon concept sometime soon.

Written by James Hills

James Hills is the founder and publisher of ManTripping.com. It is the top Men’s Lifestyle & Travel Blog covering food, wine, spirits, fishing, trucks, gadgets, sports, and fashion for men, dads, & the women who love us.

The post Dry Diggings Distillery in Eldorado County, California first appeared on BourbonBlog.

While BourbonBlog.com often brings you hosted Bourbon tastings in Palm Springs, California region, James Hills travels to Rancho Mirage to Pivat Cigar Lounge…

Pivat originally opened in 2018 but re-opened following an expansion in December of 2021. Today, you’ll find it tucked in the back of Agua Caliente’s Rancho Mirage resort casino in Palm Springs is one of the best cigar lounges that I’ve experienced in a long time. While there are many options today that offer comfortable, well-ventilated spaces where guests can enjoy a fine cigar, Bourbon whiskey, tequila, or some top-shelf cocktails.

What elevates Pivat Cigar Lounge to a different level is the inclusion of an education component hosted by Jiovanni, Pivat’s Cigar Sommelier.

Jiovanni, the “Cigar Som,” did an excellent job at educating our group on what makes one cigar different from another, how to properly use various cutting tools, as well as various ways to light the cigar and ultimately how to properly smoke one. While we were part of a press group, this is an experience you can book for your group during a visit to Agua Caliente as well.

During our visit, I was part of a mixed group of guests from those who are experienced cigar aficionados to those who were complete novices. While some cigar lounges can seem to be an intimidating place for novices, this experience was completely different and due to the excellent ventilation and the opportunity for guests of all levels to enjoy.

Even if you’re simply visiting Pivat for one of their famous smoked cocktails while your friend enjoys a cigar, non-smokers will not need to worry about the overpowering odor of smoke that sometimes plagues other cigar lounges.
Here, there was a very pleasant aroma but after spending an hour with friends, my wife didn’t make any comments about the smell of my clothes so that says a lot about the quality of the ventilation here.

Individual guests can visit for a cigar and relax in the plush leather chairs and enjoy a cocktail, whiskey, tequila, or other spirits.

There are also gaming tables open Thursday-Sunday from 6pm-2am and The Steakhouse menu is available from 5-10pm nightly.

Groups will also enjoy this space for a bachelor party, guys weekend, or another event.

There’s a “board room” style area that can be reserved for groups as well as a large outdoor patio area.

Everything at Pivat is premium quality and their walk-in humidor features more than 5,000 cigars across 52 different brands and 200 profiles.

Regulars can also secure a private locker in the humidor to store their favorite cigars.

Written by James Hills

James Hills is the founder and publisher of ManTripping.com. It is the top Men’s Lifestyle & Travel Blog covering food, wine, spirits, fishing, trucks, gadgets, sports, and fashion for men, dads, & the women who love us.

The post Pivat Cigar Lounge at Agua Caliente Casino Resort, Rancho Mirage, CA first appeared on BourbonBlog.

As Bourbon lovers, we sometimes crave something besides a pour of whiskey. We’ve all experienced wanting a quick cocktail but not feeling like taking the time to make it ourselves.

While many of us maintain a very well-stocked bar with premium bitters and other components to make a variety of cocktails, there are many cocktail lovers who do not. Frankly, that includes me usually too. I like going out to bars and tasting new concoctions created by my favorite mixologists.

However, now that I have a Bartesian at home that decision is a bit more complicated.

I’ll put the end of this review right up front – Bartesian does not replace your favorite mixologist or the experience of enjoying a cocktail in your local bar any more than Keurig has replaced Starbucks. We deeply care about bartenders and the hospitality community more than we ever have at both BourbonBlog.com and ManTripping.com and encourage you to continue to support them.

What Bartesian (Bartesian.com) does, however, is allow you to instantly create a respectable cocktail, quickly, with virtually no mess or cleanup (aside from the glass).

There are other options on the market whose pods are completely self-contained with the alcohol already in the pods. What I really appreciate about Bartesian though is that it allows me to create cocktails with your own premium spirits the way I would if I were going to on my own.

This was one of the failures faced by Keurig Drinkworks since their pods included everything in one and that meant if you wanted to make a rye Old Fashioned with WhistlePig Piggyback, Rye you can … instead of whatever default spirit the manufacturer decided to partner with.

For me, my complement of spirits includes Rabbit Hole Heigold High Rye Bourbon, Don Julio Blanco, Wildcat Brothers Sweet Crude French Style Rum, Las Californias Citrico Gin, and Belvedere Vodka.

At this point, it appears that Bartesian has become the standard pod format. Because of this, there is a huge variety of cocktail pods available as well as other machines such as Bev by Black & Decker (https://www.blackanddecker.com/solutions/bev) that we did not test, but support the same system as the Bartesian unit.

Thankfully, the Bartesian pods are actually quite good. We tried a variety of pods from their Classic Collection Variety Pack – Whiskey Sour, Long Island Iced Tea, Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Uptown Rocks, and Old Fashioned, as well as the Margarita pack and each one of them was enjoyable.

Bartesian is constantly releasing new packs as well as this makes for a very exciting ecosystem to bar part of. For instance, since I initially received the unit for review they have released a couple new cocktail packs including Penicillin.

To make your cocktail, the process is simple – place the pod in the machine just like you might with a coffee machine, and then it tells you what glassware and other preparation is recommended – such as adding to a shaker to cool or pouring over ice in the glass.

Additionally, it allows you to select the strength of your cocktail.

Then, Bartesian dispenses the mixture based in pre-established proportions that are pulled from the glass containers that you installed during the initial setup. One of the disappointing aspects of the machine though is that while there are five primary spirits that you can set up – Whiskey, Vodka, Gin, Tequila, and Rum, Vodka and Gin have to share a spot.

However, this flexibility – and ability to buy other containers does allow you to also switch things up by purchasing additional containers so you can have a Rye or Bourbon to switch things up depending on your mood.

The price for the base unit is $369.99 and pods are priced at $19.99 for a pack of 8. This makes the per-drink price $2.50 + the cost of alcohol which I think is a great option if you just want to stay at home and watch a movie, though it could get expensive if you are inviting the guys over for a night of drinking.

Written by James Hills

James Hills is the founder and publisher of ManTripping.com. It is the top Men’s Lifestyle & Travel Blog covering food, wine, spirits, fishing, trucks, gadgets, sports, and fashion for men, dads, & the women who love us.

The post Bartesian Cocktail Machine Review first appeared on BourbonBlog.