Two At The Most

The Blood and Sand is a classic example of a recipe you shouldn’t judge without tasting.

Blood and Sand

Blood and Sand

1 ounces blended Scotch whisky
1 ounces orange juice
0.75 ounces cherry brandy (Cherry Heering or Cherry Marnier)
0.75 ounces sweet vermouth

Shake all ingredients well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist or brandied cherry.

This recipe doesn’t look like it could possibly work. And yet it does, and when well balanced, it works very, very well. The scotch is strong enough … Continue Reading

Fall is closing in fast, but October refuses to leave until we honor it with a Mixology Monday. Over at Cocktailians, Vidiot is hosting a most excellent theme, Vermouth. He bids us:
Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to present a delectable vermouth cocktail for us all to drool over. Sweet/Italian or dry/French vermouth are fair game of course, as are quinquina, aperitif wines like Pineau des Charentes, or for … Continue Reading

A lot of high end liquors try to sell you with a story. Martin Miller’s Gin has quite a doozy – after distillation, the raw spirit is shipped from England to Iceland to be combined with water to bring it to proof.

Fin de Siècle

I can tell you after receiving a sample bottle, and having enjoyed it in many fine establishments, that gimmick or not, Martin Miller has put his name on a fine gin.

As the story goes, in … Continue Reading

The makers of Tequlia Ocho are convinced the concept of terroir can apply to agave as much as grapes. So they are making three single estate tequilas, a silver, resposado, and añejo, to prove their point. I was lucky enough to receive a sample bottle of their 2008 Plata to give a try.

Naturally, as I have no other vintage to compare it to, I cannot speak to the importance of the labeled year. What I can say is this is an excellent silver tequila. Made from 100 percent agave, all the … Continue Reading

Right Gin is not afraid to say it – they want to be the gin for people who think they don’t like gin. It is, after all, created by people who thought they should like gin but couldn’t find one that worked for them. As you know, I already know I like gin, but was happy to receive a bottle of this gin produced in Sweden to sample.

Personally, I have to wonder what gins they did try, considering their big complaint was a heavy, oily aftertaste. That’s a problem I find exists … Continue Reading

I’m eagerly looking forward to this week’s Thursday Drink Night. Our sponsor is Beefeater Gin. I’m expecting there will be a lot of fun and interesting drinks invented based on this London dry gin, which is one of my favorites because it brings high quality at an affordable price.

San Martín Cocktail

To get into the spirit, I wanted to try a a new-to-me gin cocktail. I picked up my copy … Continue Reading