havana cocktail

1 oz Gin (Hayman's Royal Dock)
1 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

Two Fridays ago, I was flipping through Jeff Masson and Greg Boehm's Big Bartender's Book and spotted their adaptation of the Havana Cocktail. While I usually prefer non-adapted drinks, their version was the first time that the drink has appealed to me. The classic Havana Cocktail is half apricot liqueur that is balanced by a dash of lemon juice. In this adaptation, the apricot liqueur amount was decreased and the lemon juice quotient was increased to yield a more balanced drink for my palate.  Moreover, I reached for a bottle of navy strength gin to dry things out even further.
The lemon twist I added contributed to the aroma along with the apricot liqueur and hints of the Swedish Punsch. The sip was sweet and fruity from the lemon and apricot flavors, and the swallow was drier with gin and the Swedish Punsch's rum and tea tannin flavors. Finally, the drink finished with lingering spice notes.

great pumpkin

2 oz Southampton Pumpkin Ale (Wolaver's Pumpkin)
1 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
1 Whole Egg

Add to a mixing glass and swirl to decarbonate the beer. Shake once without ice and once with ice, and strain into a Fizz glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.

After the Black Friars, I decided to make the Great Pumpkin from the P.D.T. Cocktail Book. I remember spotting this recipe a two or three years ago in an article by Jim Meehan and I even recommended it to a friend, but I never had pumpkin beer in the house until that week. When I spotted a Wolaver's mixed beer sampler at the store that included their pumpkin beer, I decided to give the 12 pack and this recipe a try.
The nutmeg greeted the nose and put the perfect spice notes on the rich, creamy sip that was full of apple, pumpkin, and maple flavors. The swallow offered up the rye and finished with even more maple notes. Indeed, Andrea declared that "It is the perfect Fall cocktail!"

:: single malt & scotch whisky extravaganza ::

Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's Single Malt & Scotch Whisky Extravaganza held at the Taj Mahal here in Boston. Right after arriving and receiving a booklet of the whiskies that would be tasted later, a tasting glass, and a token for cigars, I headed downstairs for a question and answer forum. At the door, I was asked the rhetorical question of whether I would like a dram of Aberfeldy 21 to sip while at the forum.

Besides the booklet and other goodies, they handed out cards to submit questions so that the audience could ask the panel of six brand ambassadors and one whisky guru. The questions they received were on everything from the basics to advanced questions about the future pricing market for rare whiskies. Here are the questions that I found of general interest:

What differences are there in peat?
There is peat growing through out the world. In Massachusetts, there are large fields in North Adams, and the largest fields in the United States are in Minnesota. The Irish have peat that they will sometimes use for their whiskeys. Basically, peat is the flora that lives, dies, and decomposes. When visiting a distillery, see what is growing around it. In the Highlands, this is coniferous trees, on Islay this is seaweed, and in Orkney this is heather. Indeed, geography has a big influence on the peat and thus in the whiskey, for the germinated wet barley will soak up these notes like a sponge from the peat smoke.

How to develop a nose?
• Taste/smell whisky frequently.
• Taste in a flight. Comparison and contrast will help to bring out extra flavors. Also, go back and taste the first whisky again at the end to shed new light on it.
• Start with simple notes like smokey and fruity before trying to break it down to what type of smoke or whether it is green apple or lemon. Learn to develop a vocabulary.
• Trust your instincts, and have confidence even when your notes betray what is written.
• Like people have a dominant eye, there may be a dominant nostril. Do not be afraid to plug one up and then the other. For example, some pick up sweeter notes from one and spicier notes from the other.
• Sometimes a little water will help bring out extra aromas.

What exactly is the grain whisky in a blend contributing?
In a blend, the grain whisky is contributing to the mouthfeel and the single malt to the spicier flavors. Often it is 40% single malt and 60% grain whisky. Grain whisky is made more efficiently, but it has its own character and complexity. 93% of all Scotch is a blend with Dewars and Famous Grouse being the top sellers in the United States and Scotland, respectively.

For tasting, I tried 24 different Scotches. One of the most interesting experiments was tasting the whole Glenmorangie series. I stayed at the table since the brand ambassador seemed excited to showcase the original 10 year as well as the same Scotch then aged for additional 2 years in other barrels.
Glenmorangie 10 Year - Floral aroma of honeysuckle. Soft with citrus notes, especially lemon, on the taste.
Glenmorangie Lasanta Sherry Cask 12 Year - Raisin notes on aroma. Walnut and toffee flavors.
Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Port Cask 12 Year - Manadarine orange and sandlewood spice aroma. Chocolate and walnut flavors.
Glenmorangie Nectar d'Or Sauternes Cask 12 Year - Coconut and vanilla aromas. Creamy and lemon flavors with a ginger spice finish.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the port one, and I was pleased to have tried a Sauternes one for it was a novel cask finish for me.

Some of the most intriguing Scotches of the night were at the Scotch Malt Whisky Society's table. Alan Shayne, president of the society, traced back the group's history 30 years when Pip Hill founded it in Edinborough. Pip gained an intense interest in single cask, single malt whiskies as opposed to batched, chilled-filtered, and diluted ones. Some of these nonfiltered single casks had some unique character to them that needed to be celebrated. Throughout the night, I tried all five of their offerings that ranged from light Lowlands to intense coastal ones. Each of the cask bottlings had unique names like Laundry in the bakery, Burnt granary toast with bramble jelly, and Seaweed, sushi, and Arbroath smokies. Of all the whiskies I tasted that night, these five examples had the most discernible aromatic and tasting notes per spirit. Indeed, the complexity in these single cask nonfiltered offerings was truly stunning.

black friars

50% Gin (1 1/2 oz GrandTen Wire Works)
25% Dry Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat)
10% Benedictine (2 tsp or 1/3 oz)
10% Curaçao (2 tsp or 1/3 oz Pierre Ferrand)
5% Brandy (1 tsp or 1/6 oz Foret)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Serve with a cherry.

For cocktails a few Wednesdays ago, we began the evening with the Black Friars from the United Kingdom Bartenders Guild's Approved Cocktails book. The drink bears similarity to my Black Friar that I created for a Plymouth Gin contest. It also shares a likeness to the classic Caprice as well as Eastern Standard's King's Yellow and the old Latin Quarter's Joan Blondell.
The Black Friars' dry vermouth worked well with the Curaçao's orange and the Angostura's spice on the nose. The white wine and orange sip led into gin, Benedictine, and Angostura flavors on the swallow. Overall, it was a bit more orange than a Caprice but still in the same neighborhood.

penn

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Nux Alpina Walnut Liqueur
1/4 oz Avèze Gentiane Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

The drink that Andrea had at Brick & Mortar was off of their supplementary Ivy League Cocktails menu. Some of that list were classics or modifications thereof, but some of the drinks, like the Penn and Dartmouth, needed to be crafted. There was also an addition to the eight drinks of a shot of Dr. McGillicuddy's for the up-and-coming Ivy, Bunker Hill Community College. The Penn utilized Rittenhouse Rye from Pennsylvania for theme and balanced its heat with some sweet, fruity, and nutty elements.
The Punt e Mes and Avèze's bitter herbal elements came through on the nose. The rye's malt worked well with the Punt e Mes' grape on the sip, and the rest of the rye shined through on the swallow. In addition, the Punt e Mes' bitter notes merged with the Nux Alpina walnut flavors on the swallow, and the drink finished with a lingering gentian herbalness.

in vida veritas

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Nux Alpina
3/4 oz Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur
1/2 oz Benedictine
1 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel-aged Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.

A few Tuesdays ago, we stopped in at Brick & Mortar after dinner for a nightcap. The drink I asked Kenny Belanger for was a new menu item, the In Vida Veritas. Obviously a pun on the classic "in wine [there is the] truth" which is appropriate given Misty Kalkofen's adoration of Vida and other mezcals.
The In Vida Veritas offered an orange and herbal aroma to me and an orange, walnut, and mezcal aroma to Andrea. The sip's caramel notes were followed by mezcal, pine, and herbal flavors on the swallow and a cinnamon-tinged finish.Furthermore, as the drink warmed up, the finish gained a mint accent from the Benedictine. Overall, I was impressed at how well the Zirbenz and mezcal paired, and they seemed to complement the other's prickly edges such that there was a stone pine and agave synergy.

yellow glow

1/3 Dry Gin (3/4 oz GrandTen's Wire Works)
1/3 Yellow Chartreuse (3/4 oz)
1/3 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Cocchi)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail. Garnish with a stuffed olive (omitted).

A few Mondays ago for the cocktail hour, I flipped through the 1940 The How And When cocktail book and spotted the Yellow Glow. I was curious for it seemed like a Bijou with Yellow Chartreuse instead of the Green Chartreuse and orange bitters.
The Yellow Glow greeted my nose with a savory herbal aroma from the Yellow Chartreuse. The sweet grape sip was followed by gin and Yellow Chartreuse flavors colored by more grape notes on the swallow. Overall, it was less bristly than a Bijou and reminded me a little of the Strega and dry vermouth Berkeley Hotel Cocktail but with more grape flavors.

burning ice

1 1/2 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch
3/4 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch
1 barspoon Kübler Absinthe
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

While I was drinking my Front Street at No. 9 Park, bartender Ted Kilpatrick was working the restaurant floor. He came by and mentioned his frustrations of serving drinks at the Whisky Live event and how many of the people there did not get his cocktail. Some of the guests had two problems with his drink, the Burning Ice. The first I could see, since not everyone likes fennel-anise flavors. The second was more absurd when they complained about the smoke notes given that it was at a Scotch event after all. While he made the drink at the event with Ardbeg, they were making it at No. 9 with Laphroaig. With Scotch, lemon, Swedish Punsch, and absinthe, the drink reminded me the Modern Cocktail. So when it was time for my second drink, I asked bartender Sam Olivari for the Burning Ice.
The Scotch's smoke greeted my nose along with the absinthe's anise and hints of the sherry's grape. The lemon-grape sip had a thicker mouthfeel than I expected perhaps from the sherry's fullness. And the swallow was a combination of the smokey Scotch and rich sherry that was punctuated by light herbal notes from the absinthe and Peychaud's Bitters.

front street

2 oz Sazerac 6 Year Rye
3/4 oz S. Maria al Monte Amaro
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup
2 dash Bitter Science Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Flame an orange twist over the top.
A few Sundays ago, I stopped into No. 9 Park when bartender Sam Olivari was at the stick. For a first drink, Sam suggested a Toronto variation named after one of the Toronto neighborhoods called Front Street. The drink's orange twist's oils joined the cinnamon on the aroma along with an herbal note from the amaro at the end of the sniff. The sip was rich with caramel and chocolate notes, and the swallow presented the rye and an interesting collision of cinnamon and S. Maria al Monte flavors. With this amaro-cinnamon combination, I was reminded of Russell House Tavern's Wigglesworth which is also a Toronto variation but with Fernet Branca and apple-cinnamon syrup.