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

[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.

[Jett129]

Had my local liquor store track this down for me,and got 2 bottles. It’s really great. Not overly oakey for a 13 year old,and not too hot for a cask strength bourbon. It has 84% corn in the mashbill,so it’s on the sweet side which is OK with me. A good sipper neat or on the rocks. I paid $59.95 which I thought was reasonable. There hasn’t been an Old Scout release in a while,which is another reason that I’m so excited about this one.

[gaseousclay]

Any of you drink liqueur? I never drink hard liquor but I have tried limoncelo liqueur before and really liked it. Not sure how you would categorize liqueur but I like the sweetness and the strength. I came across a one man company in Vermont and the guy makes maple syrup liqueur which piqued my interest. Any of you ever try this before?

[Jett129]

I don’t drink any straight liqueur,but I keep some Tia Maria,and Cointreau on hand,for the occasional cocktail.

[Seul]

[Max Power]

^classic

If you're into one with less sherry but more young & smoky character the 8 YO is pretty decent as well.

[Seul]

Without any doubt the best smelling beverage I've ever stuck my nose in… Will try tonight...

[organisys]

@Seul:

Tasty wee dram

[mclaincausey]

Pasted from Instagram so forgive the hash tags.

The original #sazerac used #cognac instead of #rye in the mid-1800s and was sold as a tonic for stomach ailments (I say hangovers) by the #Peychauds, who made the bitters from a family recipe from their Haitian ancestors and sold the "medicine" in their apothecary. A blight struck cognac grapes and made cognac rare, so Maryland-style rye replaced cognac in the tonic. They also would have used true #absinthe and not the later official rinse #herbsaint (a pastis lacking wormwood and named after an anagram of "absinthe," which became banned until recently). I bought some cognac to cook with and figure the original, lesser version of the Sazerac was a perfect way to get rid of it. A really good way to make this drink is with Pierre Ferrand 1840, which is a cognac styled for the period. A really good way to make a sazerac is with Rittenhouse Rye and real absinthe.

[Chap]

Heavy peated: Ardbeg Supernova and Bruichladdich Port Charlotte

[Seul]

That looks so good… How are the cognac influences in the Bruichladdich?..

[Chap]

Well I like to drink a good Dram from time to time but must admit I am far away from being a Whisky Connoisseur. I guess there is that hind of Vanilla that might be from the french oaks. Beside the peat smoke it is still fruity and sweet.

[tvenuto]

Woodinville Rye, Washington state. Picked this up while visiting the in-laws about a year ago. Didn’t visit the distillery unfortunately but this stuff is very nice. Definitely on the herbal side of the rye spectrum (cinnamon, clove, dill, etc). If you’re in their distribution range give it a try.