where eagles dare

1 1/2 oz Dewar's 12 Year Blended Scotch (Famous Grouse)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Giffard Crème de Banane (Tempus Fugit)
1 dash Mole Bitters (Bittermens)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass rinsed with Smith & Cross Rum. Two Wednesdays ago, I spotted on an online recipe site the Where Eagles Dare created at State Park in Cambridge that was named after either the 1968 Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton WWII action film or the 1979 song by The Misfits. The Punt e Mes-banana combination appears in a few drinks such as the Social Vampire and the Banana Manhattan, but none with Scotch muchless a funky Jamaican rum rinse. Scotch and banana though were last seen in the Cupid Deluxe (that post has links to two other Scotch-banana drinks on the blog), so I curious to give this one a try. In the glass, the Where Eagles Dare soared to the nose with a pineapple rum funk and banana aroma. Next, grape and caramel notes on the sip swooped into Scotch, bitter herbal, and banana flavors on the swallow with a chocolate finish.

southern gentleman

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
3/4 oz Averna
1/2 oz Gentian Liqueur (Suze)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a lemon twist. Two Tuesdays ago, I received the new issue of Imbibe Magazine (September/October 2026), and I immediately picked out the Southern Gentleman as a Black Manhattan riff by Sean Skvarka and Matt Ross at Whisler's in Austin. It appeared like an Averna for sweet vermouth variation on Happiness Forgets' Harry Palmer, so I was game. Once stirred and strained, the Southern Gentleman greeted the senses with a lemon and earthy herbal aroma. Next, caramel from the Averna filled the sip that led into rye, gentian, and herbal flavors on the swallow.