I love the excitement that comes with trying a new spirit for the first time. How does this whiskey compare to my old favorites? How is this new liqueur different from all the other ones on the market? What's going to make people drink this new gin? It's a thrill to figure it all out, with my taste buds as my guide.
Only problem is, the assortment of spirits that have crossed my desk in the last few months are pretty random -- what's going to make anyone apart from the hardiest spirits geek want to read about two Scotches, a couple of brandies, a bourbon, a vodka, and a pair of liqueurs? Well, I've found from experience that, when in doubt, it never hurts to look to the calendar for some thematic unity. Write about a dozen grappas and who cares? But write about the best grappas to drink for Arbor Day and you've got a hot and timely piece on your hands.
Since it's February, I had three possible tie-ins. Black History Month? Figuring out which spirit would have been tastiest on the March to Selma or along the Underground Railroad felt a little... unseemly. Presidents' Day? An interesting idea, but I got bogged down trying to figure out if Patron's XO Cafe Dark Cocoa was the Chester Arthur or the Franklin Pierce of liqueurs.
Which left Valentine's Day. Certainly a well-made, well-chosen spirit, in cocktail form or otherwise, can be quite the aphrodisiac. Cocktails, sipping spirits, after-dinner liqueurs, all can set the stage for an evening of amour. And if you're alone and miserable on V-Day, there's nothing like some booze -- high quality or otherwise -- to help you forget your troubles.
So forget champagne. Sure it's romantic, but a good Scotch, or a really well-made cura?ao, is sexy. This year, on this very special Hallmark holiday, you lovers need to wow your mates with the latest spirits the world of alcohol has to offer. If drink be the food of love, then bottoms up, baby!
COURVOISIER C COGNAC (40% alcohol by volume, age not stated, $35 suggested retail price). You kids today! Back when my liver was knee-high to a grasshopper, cognac was something sipped in elegant snifters in stodgy mens clubs, or paired with a fine cigar after a nine-course dinner at your country estate. Nowadays it's a party drink, to be quaffed during a night out at the club. Which I suppose is why Courvoisier helpfully included a flask when they sent me their latest expression, C By Courvoisier -- it can be difficult to dance while holding a 750ml bottle. As for the contents of the bottle, the small-batch cognac is double-barrel aged, meaning it's first aged in younger barrels and then in older ones, to give both an intense and well-rounded flavor. And it's meant to be served chilled. Chilled?! Purists need not bother. But if you lay your preconceptions aside it's definitely better than Grey Goose or Captain Morgan or any of those other party-type spirits. It's quite mild for a cognac, with notes of orange peel and bread tempering the woodiness, and surprisingly little alcoholic burn on the finish. For Valentine's Day, ditch the flask and break out the snifters for a night of amour.
THE GLENROTHES EDITORS CASK SCOTCH WHISKY (57% ABV, aged 15 years, $375). What better way to score good reviews for your whisky than to have a group of journalists taste and select the best casks for bottling? Journalists being an opinionated bunch, they couldn't choose just one, so they settled on two -- one for Eruope and one for the USA and, oddly enough, Taiwan. The American/Taiwanese selection was laid down in 1995 and is limited to a mere 264 bottles. On the nose, it's got notes of oak, sherry, chocolate and orange peel. Because it's 57% alcohol, it's a little overwhelming taken neat, but add a few drops of water and the magic happens, with wood, dried fruit, dark chocolate and coffee flavors harmonizing like the Four Freshmen. This is a rich, smooth and utterly gorgeous whisky -- and I didn't even help select the stuff. Ladies, serve this to your men after dinner on Valentine's Day and remind him of it the next time you want to see a chick flick. Gents, if you think Scotch is too manly for a romantic evening, think again. And single folks of both sexes, make Editors Cask your companion for the evening and you'll have a better time than most of us who have dates.
HARVEST SPIRITS RARE PEAR BRANDY (40% ABV, aged 2 years, $32). If you're like me, you probably don't think about drinking something like pear brandy very often, if at all. But try the astoundingly good Rare Pear and I'll bet you think about it -- and drink it -- a lot more. Introduced in October by New York State's own Harvest Spirits, Rare Pear is their standard un-aged pear brandy (also available and also excellent) aged for two years in new American oak barrels. Pear brandies are hardly ever aged, hence the "rare" in the name. The result is a dry, understated and altogether elegant blend of pear and wood. Cuddle up with your honey, a pair of snifters and a bottle of Rare Pear by a warm fire after a delicious Valentine's Day meal. Although I'll bet it would also taste pretty good as an aperitif, or with a meal in place of white wine, or as a mid-morning snack... you name it. Supplies are extremely limited and I'm not sure of its availability outside New York, but a long weekend upstate could be tres romantique!
MONKEY SHOULDER BATCH 27 BLENDED MALT SCOTCH WHISKY (43% ABV, age not stated, $26). Scotch lovers generally turn up their noses at blends, with a few exceptions. Monkey Shoulder, blended by the legendary malt master David Stewart (who's responsible for amazing single malts by the Balvenie, among others), is one of the exceptions. It isn't exactly new, having been a popular blended Scotch across the pond for several years. But it's making its overdue Stateside debut, and that's cause for celebration. Monkey Shoulder is a blend of three Speyside malts -- after aging in used bourbon barrels, Stewart selects the 27 best barrels of the bunch and ages them further until he deems them bottle-worthy. Gents, if you've ever wanted to turn your ladies on to Scotch, this is the one. Deliciously sweet, smooth and rich, redolent of vanilla and toffee with just a touch of spice, it's her dream man come to life in a glass. And the three monkeys on the bottle are super cute! But if you're a self-respecting man, I'd draw the line at some of the cocktail recipes on Monkey Shoulder's website. The "Monkey Mojito"? People, that's just wrong.
PATRON XO CAFE DARK COCOA COFFEE LIQUEUR (30% ABV, $30). Patron's gotten a bad rap among tequila heads in recent years, and some may say it's deserved. Me, I've still got a soft spot for the brand, dating back to its '90s heyday, when Patron broke me out of Cuervo Gold prison and made me realize how wonderful well-made tequila can be. So I may be biased, but I would like this sweet, rich dessert-in-a-glass no matter who made it. It's supposed to be a combo of coffee and cocoa flavors, but the chocolate seems much more predominant, with the coffee lending just enough bitterness to balance out the sweetness of the chocolate. And don't forget the tequila, which plays a minor role but is definitely in the mix. Nice for sipping on its own, excellent for mixing with milk for an adult milkshake, and great for pouring over vanilla ice cream for a quick and easy V-Day dessert.
PIERRE-FERRAND DRY CURACAO ANCIENNE METHODE (40% ABV, $30). What's the difference between triple sec and cura?ao, apart from the squiggly "c"? I'm not sure if anyone really truly knows what distinguishes these orange liqueurs -- although feel free to tell me in the Comments section if you think you do! But I do know that cura?ao, before it was cheapened, bastardized and colored electric blue by some enterprising marketing team that's now rotting in hell, was an essential ingredient for many 19th century cocktails. Pierre-Ferrand, in conjunction with spirits historian/deity David Wondrich, reaches back to those halcyon days with their new Dry Cura?ao, created so that Jerry Thomas and his ilk would recognize it. Like Grand Marnier (and unlike almost every other orange liqueur), it uses brandy as a base rather than neutral spirits, which gives it a much fuller and more complex flavor. But the botanicals and the Cura?ao orange peels themselves give deeper and more intense orange notes than Grand Marnier, making this liqueur perfect for use in classic cocktails like margaritas and (especially) mai tais. And if you think a mai tai is not a romantic drink, then you've clearly never had a well-made one. Just ask my wife, who gets weak in the knees at the sight of my mixing them up.
RANSOM SPIRITS/LOCAL WINE & SPIRITS' THE EXCHANGE VODKA (40% ABV, $32). I'm not a vodka guy in general. Neither is Tad Seestedt, the man behind Oregon's own Ransom Spirits. Regardless, The Exchange is his second go-'round with vodka. His first, The Vodka By Ransom, is so flavorful as to be iconoclastic, while this one, made in conjunction with Chicago's Local Wine & Spirits, is more traditional in its pursuit of odorless-colorless-flavorless. The neutral corn and rye spirits are filtered through a combination of limestone and charcoal which imparts a soft sweetness that's also heavy on the mineral notes. It's super-clean and well-balanced, one of those rare vodkas that tastes great neat. It also makes for a nifty martini with just a touch of vermouth and olive brine. After all, a martini is the perfect concoction to lubricate those lips for an old fashioned Valentine's Day pettin' party!
WOODFORD RESERVE DOUBLE OAKED BOURBON (45.2% ABV, age not stated, $50). OK, so this one won't be hitting your liquor store shelves until March, but Woodford Reserve's first permanent line extension in its history is worth celebrating Valentine's Day twice for. Not that there was anything wrong with Woodford Reserve's excellent whiskey, but Double Oaked is, to my taste buds, even better. The bourbon is aged twice, in two different oak barrels, both toasted and charred in a manner that's exclusively used for Double Oaked. The result is a product that tastes like classic Woodford Reserve but even fuller, and with the rough edges smoothed out. There's lots of woodiness to go with the notes of vanilla, dark fruits, banana, tobacco and cinnamon (to name a few), but the wood complements the other flavors rather than overwhelming them. A brilliant whiskey, and at $50, a good value as well. Love is in the air... or rather, in my glass.
?
Follow Tony Sachs on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RetroManNYC
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-sachs/candy-flowers-feh-new-spi_b_1269762.html
rockefeller center art basel 2011 art basel 2011 straight no chaser straight no chaser bcs standings bcs standings
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.