Hard Drinkers, Lets Drink Hard (Spirits, Liquors and Cocktails)

[tvenuto]

Speaking of rare, this one’s getting tucked away until I can share with the son. I’d better hide it from myself…

Cassis Whiskey Sour
2 oz bourbon or rye
1 oz lemon (not pictured, last one)
3/4 oz cassis (next time I’d use 1)
1/2 oz simple (next time I’d use none)
1 egg white

Shake all but egg white with ice. Strain into glass, and dump ice. Add back to shaker and add egg white, shake. Strain. (Called “the reverse shake”)

[Niro]

Just had some Nikka from the barrel (on the rocks) last night. Haven't had japanese whiskey in about a year. Forgot how good even the cheapest japanese whiskey is

[mclaincausey]

Nice OF and agreed.

This is a stunning combination. I bite a chunk and swish some sauce. Delicious.

[tvenuto]

Hitting up the “Bourye” which is a mix of bourbon and rye. It’s straightforward but good. Note the “untucked” in the background.

[tvenuto]

"Bloody Bitter"
2 oz gin (preferably barreled, or earthy, like Letherbee Autumn release)
1 oz Creme de Cassis
1/2 oz angostura bitters
1/4 oz Orange bitters
1/4 oz Peychaud's bitters

My riff on the much-loved "Sawyer Cocktail."  I think the Sawyer is technically a better drink, this one goes much more for the sweet/bitter interplay and is less balanced due to the lack of sour.  I've messing around with cassis, and may make this one again.  I highly recommend the Sawyer if you like gin and are looking for something truly different.

[tvenuto]

Old Forester BDay bourbon 2018. A different bottle than pictured previously, the other is getting put away for a while. Higher proof than past iterations, this one has some punch. Definitely best to pour it and let it sit for 20-40min. Very nice, though. Something like cherry bread pudding on the finish.

Worth the price of admission? Maybe not, but with these things the quality graph gets asymptotic: 50% more expensive for 10% better.

[mclaincausey]

…and with the ability to discern and appreciate the difference diminishing by the ounce consumed, at least for me

[tvenuto]

MGP’s first house label in…forever?  You've definitely drank some MGP bourbon or rye before, as they silently supply many many brands (a list I found).  They know how to make a whiskey, that's for sure.  This one is right up my alley: cocoa powder, nuts, dried fruits (fig/date/prune, like a dopplebock), toffee.

The bottle ain't cheap ($70) but what is nowadays?  Note the "I" on the neck.  Each year the "repeal reserve" will change, you can also see the mashbills and % of the whiskies used in this bottle, which is a nice touch.  It's also an easy bottle to store and pour, all while being good looking.  A nice throwback art deco style.  Too many bottles are trying too hard for nostalgia, or are ridiculous to store and pour (OF Bday, I'm looking at you).

All in all, a whiskey drinkers bourbon.  Few people do a high-rye better than MGP, and I love that they've shed all the pretense and kept the work where it belongs: in the sauce.

*As an aside, it's a bonus that they picked one of my favorite prohibition characters for a namesake.  George Remus was a downright ridiculous man, whose life even the most creative story writer couldn't have scripted.

[Jett129]

Finally was able to get a bottle of the Pappy Bourbon Barrel aged maple syrup. So before I put it on pancakes,I found and made a recipe for a Maple Syrup Old Fashioned. Used some high proof,126, Barrel Bourbon so it wouldn’t be too sweet. Really delicious.

[tvenuto]

Now that is one high end cocktail.

[Jett129]

Going to try it with some Cask Strength Makers next. Don't know if the syrup will,ever see pancakes. The bourbon smell from the syrup is wonderful. Just keep,holding the bottle up to my nose.

[tvenuto]

Rum Manhattan
2oz Rum (in this case "Rhum" a french carib rum agricole)
1oz Red Vermouth (in this case the fantastic Carpano Antica)
2 dashes Reagan's orange bitters

Basically how I make a regular manhattan but sub the rhum for the rye and the Reagan's for the maraschino.

[tvenuto]

Halloween Cocktail “El Diablo”

1.5 oz tequila
0.5 oz creme de cassis
0.5 oz lime juice
3-4 oz ginger beer

Shake all but ginger beer with ice, strain and top with ginger beer.

I didn’t make this one up FYI. Just seemed appropriate for Halloween. Tasty too.

[Fadez]

Finally some peace and quiet on the country side

[tvenuto]

Crappy cell phone pics, sorry I'm not sorry.

For the wife:
Spiced Cider
1 can very dry cider
1.5 oz homemade allspice dram
Combine in glass

For me:
Miramar
1 oz Apple Brandy
1 oz aged rum
1 oz red vermouth
Stir with ice and strain

This one is a riff on the Manhattan, which I've been experimenting with pretty extensively.  From my extraordinarily brief internet search, Miramar is the tony neighborhood in Havanah, so I picked that as the name of this one.

For a general template, the manhattan style drink should go thusly:

2 oz Liquor from the list
1 oz very high quality vermouth, if you can't drink it straight it's not good enough
1-2 dashes Aromatic component (optional)

My list for the appropriate liquors:
Rye
Bourbon*
Apple brandy (other fruit brandies might work, I've just never tried)
Brandy (grape-based, Cognac)
Aged Rum (not spiced rum, the good stuff)

You can combine the above if you like.  Rye+Rum works, as does AB+Rum.  Rye+Cognac is also a great combo that you wouldn't think of (and forms the base of my mint julep).  For the aromatic component, any number of bitters could work.  The traditional Manhattan has Maraschino liqueur as an aromatic, so other liqueurs could also work.

*You won't see me using this one so it's merely a concession, if you have bourbon that's not worth drinking straight I hope it was a gift and I hope you no longer talk to that person

[Jett129]

Delicious Fall Cocktail,kind of a take on a Dark and Stormy. Should’ve used Ginger Beer.

[mclaincausey]

Well what a great Christmas gift from the wife. Bottle 108/120 of a coyote mezcal made in a tiny batch in a small Palenque in the wooded hills of Oaxaca. Coyote is a cultivated sub-variety of agave Americana oaxacensis that takes anywhere from 16 to 20 years to mature, and looks like this:

The piñas are ground by hand and distilled in clay pots. I'm almost afraid to open this one.

[mclaincausey]

Daiquiri (not pictured: lime)

[tvenuto]

God help me.

AM update: I do indeed have the rattle skull.  Amaretto to the rescue!

[mclaincausey]

Muddler? I hardly know her.