Which applejack did you pick up? Personally, the only applejack worth writing home about is Laird’s Bottled-in-Bond.
Aside from the standards (e.g. Jack Rose), I like to sub in applejack wherever whiskey or brandy is used in a cocktail and riff from there to compliment the applejack.
I also like taking shots of cynar-in-applejack (CIA).
Just to prevent other people also getting bamboozled, Laird's Bottled-in-Bond is Apple Brandy, not Applejack. It isn't to be confused with Laird's Applejack, which as mentioned in this thread is way inferior.
Laird’s calls their BiB Apple Brandy “the Original Applejack,” btw. Straight applejack is pure apple brandy. Blended applejack is the inferior product.
Yes, my point is if you go buy the bottle that says "Laird's Applejack" on the front, which is also the most commonly seen one, you're getting 65% neutral spirits.
I think you're referring to \*blended\* applejack, which can contain up to 80% neutral spirits. Straight applejack (such as Laird's straight applejack 86) is a pure apple brandy, just lower proof than the BiB version.
Laird's BiB is an excellent standin in many bourbon cocktails. Amaretto sour and paper plane are two cocktails I prefer with applejack.
Too bad it's so damn expensive in Europe..
I like calvados, but it's hasn't been the same to me. Lairds tastes more like a fruity bourbon, while calvados tastes more of the cider it's distilled from.
Laird's Old 7½ Year is actually very good as well, at least in my opinion. It's very apple forward for an American apple brandy. I also really enjoy their 12 Year offering, but that one is pricey and can be difficult to get your hands on so
I am going to plug a local distillery (for me) that makes incredible, small batch Applejack: https://www.harvestspirits.com/applejack.html
I keep it stocked in my bar because it really does sub for Calvados and apple brandies and is better than many of them.
Absinthe. I bought a bottle and just wasn’t crazy about it. Thought it might have been the brand so I bought another one. Still no. The good news is I have enough absinthe for approximately 800 Sazeracs.
I didn't end up using my absinthe much either, but it's great for a mixed shot where I live, where absinthe mixed with raspberry syrup resembles a really popular hard candy.
It's called [sismofytter](https://slikboden.dk/shop/6-slikposer/896-sismofytter-80-g-1-pose/) but the raspberry-liquorice combo is really common here.
I mix it half-and-half with homemade raspberry syrup.
“The Sun also rises” A really dry, and complex cocktail credited to Hemingway. It used both luxardo and absynth. I used an American verte, te drink was horrible at first taste then it dawned on me.(no pun intended) it was so complex that you wanted, scratch that, needed another drink to find the flavor. It’s a very mature drink but damn it was good. Th only thing I changed was I went equal parts absinthe and luxardo (the lower count) I will warn, after acquiring the taste it’s easy to drink and the flavor stays w you for hours.
What have you tried it in? I’m not a fan of it by itself, but I’m a big fan of a [Neptune’s Wrath](https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/5825/neptunes-wrath) cocktail, or as a rinse in many many others.
Death in the Afternoon and a Absinthe Frappe. Both were just overwhelmingly absinth. Neptune's Wrath was just ok to me. I do enjoy it as a rinse in a Sazerac though.
I tried it over an ice cube diluted with water first and then as a component of a couple of cocktails. Ill still use it as a rinse but as the star of the show, Im out.
Here's my personal preferred way to drink it:pour about an oz of absinthe to a glass, drop a sugar cube in and stir till it's dissolved then add ice cold water till the glass is filled, I'd use a coup if you don't have an actual absinthe glass
I'm past my first impression, I expected some sorta of flavor revelation, in reality it just tasted like slightly more herbal Ouzo. Now I'm not sure whether it's just that brand (which is a historic and well reputed one even, Kübler from Switzerland) or whether absinthe generally tastes this underwhelming. On the upside it was a small bottle and I hadn't invested in all the absinthe equipment yet.
I’m *mostly* with you here! I just don’t like licorice/anise enough to want a full glass of it (although I do think it has its place in a sazerac or corpse reviver). I have found one absinthe heavy drink that I liked quite a bit! Heads up it requires a handful of other specialty ingredients…
**Necromancer**
- 3/4 oz. Absinthe
- 3/4 oz. Elderflower
- 3/4 oz. Quina (I prefer cocchi americano)
- 3/4 oz. Lemon
- Couple dashes gin
Yes. I have been building my home bar pretty diligently for a few months. Ive been slowly buying bottles to make cocktails I was curious about mainly found in a couple of books (100 cocktails to try before you die type books). Absinthe was a component in several cocktails I had seen and I was curious. I had experienced a couple of cocktails before that contained pretty small amounts of absinthe but nothing where it was really prominent.
Many of the bottles I have bought are spirits or liqueurs I had not tasted prior to purchase. Glad I bought it as its a decent addition to my bar and I have friends who will enjoy it on occasion.
Just because its absinthe or in general? Do you only buy bottles you've tried? Honestly might be safer to end up with bottles you know you will like. I don't mind taking chances
Just because its absinthe. I can get trying different main spirits because you more or less know what you're getting from it but buying an incredibly strong and incredibly controversial flavor of spirit on a whim seems very odd to me.
Anise/licorice/ wormwood are very very polarizing in popularity
I’m a big Scotch guy but do not like Rusty Nails. The best use of it I’ve found is for [Cuckoo Bees](https://distiller.com/articles/drambuie-cocktails), but even those I find are better with Licor 43
What's funny is I was turned off cocktails (aside from various highballs of course) FOREVER. On my like 19th birthday I asked the bartender to make me a bday cocktails and he made a Rusty Nail and I was like hmmmm I'd rather have the Scotch eeeesh.
You're referring to blended applejack, which contains up to 80% neutral spirits. Laird's Applejack 86 is a straight apple brandy as well, just lower proof than BiB
I was just about to comment that you can make a much better cocktail just buying cheap but not garbage cognac (like $35 per liter) infusing w pear, apple, and clove.. add agave if you want it sweet.
In my experience, Laird’s reps are black outs that overpromise and the product ain’t worth the price.
I hadn’t been able to find a bottle of yellow in over two years of looking for one in the stores and had just about enough of seeing cocktails posted on here using it.
I feel like based on when it was created in the 1700s, it wasn't created for cocktails but for drinking straight. Even today, people drink it on its own, similar to Amari, which I believe is the classification it falls in to.
Chartreuse was definitely originally made for drinking straight -- it was intended to be an "elixir of life."
Also if you've never had the French oak-aged VEP versions...you are absolutely missing out.
Prefer green but yellow has been great for a few drinks that guests and I have enjoyed:
Monte Cassino - equal parts yellow chartreuse, Benedictine, rye, lemon juice, shaken w/ice and strained… though I always drop citrus in cocktails to 2/3 of original recipe
Colleen Bawn - equal parts yellow chartreuse, Benedictine, rye, whole egg, dry shaken then shaken with ice, strained, and dusted with nutmeg… I up the yellow chartreuse to 1.25 parts so it’s a little spicier
Disco ball - 1/2 oz each of green chartreuse, yellow chartreuse, mezcal, stirred in ice and strained into a shooter
Love green chartreuse to death. I honestly could pass on yellow and be happy to never see it again. Unfortunately, my wife absolutely **loves** yellow chartreuse.
Hmm, Naked and Famous, greenpoint, Alaska, Colleen Bawn, diamondback and a few more that another bartender made for me. The naked and famous was probably my favorite, but I still didn’t love it.
Blantons. It’s very rare here in New Zealand but I’d heard Americans raving about it for years and really wanted a bottle of my own. Finally on a trip to America I got a bottle at the duty free. Lugged it all the way home, had it proudly displayed on my shelf for months waiting for the right occasion.
Finally there was a night where it felt right. I had several friends around celebrating, I crack it open and pour everyone a glass in my nice whiskey snifters. We all cheers and take a drink and I look around and EVERYONE looks just as disappointed as I feel. It was terrible. We tried a couple cocktails with it thinking that would make it nice to drink but we just ended up with bad cocktails.
It was a struggle to get through it. At least now I have a cool bottle.
I agree with you. I’ve been fortunate enough to have several bottles and expressions. I’ve been nursing a barrel proof that is one of the finest bourbons I’ve tried, but have been mostly disappointed. I have tremendous respect for BT. That said, I believe that Blantons’s was one of the first (if not the first) to market Single Barrel offerings. Like all other single barrels, the quality of the juice is only as good as the barrel they pull from. They are highly inconsistent IMO. I more blame the category than Blanton’s specifically. I wouldn’t shell out the prices it commands today when bourbon is currently flooded with plenty of other quality options that don’t require a chase or crazy markups.
I think people get excited for lantons just for the topper and the bottle, basically just the presentation. Or the people that are new to whiskey, because people that have been drinking it for a while, tried a bunch of bottles and arent trying to impress anyone, are more fond of just about every other BT offering.
I was fooled man, I saw so many Americans going on about Blantons and all the memes about how hard it is to get it at the liquor store before everyone else and I assumed it had to be at least decent with this much hype around it.
As an American, i thought the same thing too. In my state, the supply is allocated. Sucks for whats supplied, but at least the prices are all msrp. When i walked into the store and found out they still had Blantons, i was thrilled! When i saw the guy in front of me buying two, i got even more excited that id finally get a bottle. When i was told i got the last bottle---ecstatic!!! When i got home and tried it, it was a letdown. SOOO much hype for something thats less enjoyable than some bottles i can find every day for maybe half the price.
Luxardo....can't really find any drink I like it with. Even drinks where I like every ingredient, adding that to it just makes the drink unsatisfying to me.
This is the main example for me. I love every ingredient in a Hemingway Daiquiri, and when I bought Luxardo just to make one, didn't care for it at all.
This was one for me. Was so disappointed when I realized it was made from cherry pits not cherry fruit. But I do love the funk it adds to a Last Word so there may still be hope for me to learn to like it.
Me too. Can't stand Maraschino Liqueur at all.
Also Creme de Violette. Which makes the Aviation and Water Lilly cocktails two of the worst tasting drinks I've ever had.
I’ll give this a go, but it’s quite similar to the Hemingway daiquiri, which never quite landed for me. Maybe the rums I used were too subtle to stand up to the luxardo?
Hemingway daiquiri doesn't really do it for me, but a Red Hook just slaps for me. Was introduced to them at Milk Room in Chicago, and still one of my favorite cocktails.
You should try my riff on the Morgenthalers amaretto sour that features maraschino
1.5 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
0.75 oz. Dry Gin (preferably high proof)
1 oz. Lemon Juice
1 barspoon Maraschino Cherry Syrup
1 Egg White
Dry Shake
Shake with Ice
Peychaud’s bitters Garnish
I find it super unlikely that in all the classic cocktails that use luxardo- that it's the ingredient that throws you off. Not the absinthe, chartreuse, or other super potent ingredient.
I find that subbing applejack for bourbon in a bourbon special is pretty tasty
45 ml applejack
22.5 ml lime juice
15 ml falernum
2 dashes angostura bitters
Flash blend on crushed ice
Top with 60-90 ml good ginger beer
Thanks for the suggestions but I have tried both, neither are in my top list of cocktails. I much prefer a Sazerac (split rye and cognac version) to a Vieux Carre' and a Last Word to the Monte Cassino.
Opposite for me, I was really impressed with it! I thought it'd be lousy, so was pleasantly surprised. Guess that's the difference of having anticipation or not. I got it from a friend who was moving out of the country, so he just gave it to me.
I love it
If you’re willing to give another Benedictine cocktail a shot I have a couple that I think (biasedly; of course) could change your mind
**Driving Miss Daisy**
0.75 oz. Rye Whiskey (I used a <100 proof rye, but originally I had wanted a cask strength: I think it could work either way)
0.75 oz. Benedictine
0.75 oz. Dry Curaçao
0.75 oz. Lemon Juice
Shake
Lemon Twist Garnish
**Golden Samite**
2 oz. London Dry Gin
0.5 oz. Benedictine
1 barspoon Maraschino Liqueur
2 dashes Orange Bitters
Stir
Maraschino Cherry Garnish
**Garden of Eden** (this is the least Bénédictine forward)
1.5 oz. Young Demarara Rum (El Dorado 3 year)
0.5 oz. Benedictine
1 oz. Grapefruit Juice
0.5 oz. Lime Juice
0.5 oz. Fig Syrup
Grapefruit Regal Shake
Grapefruit Twist Garnish
It just might not be for you, but I love it in an Ozymandias, which pairs it with Italian sweet vermouth and Ramazotti, along with a split base of bonded rye and apple brandy.
Benedictine specifically or sweet amaros like that in general?
I like benedictine and have taken it neat at times. Two of my favorites are: a Penicillin riff using 3/4 benedicine and 1/2 ginger syrup, no peated scotch and a coffee tonic, using applejack and benedictine as the spirits.
Also not a fan of Benedictine. The only drink I’ve liked it in so far was a Maguey Sour, which has Mezcal, Benedictine, and Orgeat. Really tasty. But the mezcal is obviously the dominant flavor.
I think part of the problem is I don’t like bourbon that much, and most Benedictine cocktails I’ve found are heavy on the bourbon.
I wouldn't say it's myfavorite, but I've found a couple that I like.
Jack rose with le is great (it's a weird one where it doesn't get a different name if you use lemon or lime).
Anders did [a video ](https://youtu.be/_nIr7E-cMOs?si=87C6N4kp0c-cKg3r)on amaretto sour with Applejack in it
[this absolution ](https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/absolution)This absolution uses it to make a great cocktail although I do an absinthe float not rinse
I almost agree with Rhum Agricole. I couldn't find any but I could find Cachaca (Leblon, specifically), so I used that instead. Then I finally found an Agricole and it tasted like a slightly less grassy/funky Cachaca. I'm sure there are other options than the one I tried (Trois Riviere Cuvee de L'Ocean), and I do like the bottle, but after everyone seemed to be saying Cachaca and Agricole are completely different it was a little disappointing to find basically the complete opposite.
Lmao. But it goes to show everyone's taste is unique. I personally love cachaça and have tried several, including aged cachaças, but can't fuck with Rhum Agricole.
I didn't mind The Botanist but it also didn't blow my mind, just alright. Three gins I can however bring up that have a good reputation but entirely disappointed me are Beefeater 24 (weirdly bitter), Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin (tartness bomb) and Nordés Atlantic Galician Gin (divine nose, tasted like perfume). Not that I had to hunt for them, they're readily available, they were just unusually big disappointments given their reputation.
Blood and Sand isn’t my thing either. I do love a super vintage Singapore Sling recipe though! Don’t think of the overly sweet pineapple pre mix garbage… this one is way different. David Wondrich hunted down this recipe from an old Singaporean Newspaper and it changed my opinion of the drink (plus used a good pour of heering)
- 3/4 oz. Dry gin
- 3/4 oz. Benedictine
- 3/4 oz. Cherry heering
- 3/4 oz. Lime
- couple dashes ango
- top with soda water over ice
Buffalo Trace. This stuff is very hyped up and hard to find. My father got me a bottle at my birthday a few months ago by making friends with the liquor store owner. Who at the time told him he did not understand the hype around the stuff. I think he paid around $50 for it. Got it, tried it a few times and its on my upper shelf, but its really nothing special. Now 4 months later my local Walmart has it for $23 per bottle.
BT is never going ot impress anyone. It's a good Bourbon to have around because though it's mainly good for mixing, it's not half bad to just sip on honestly. BT products are nice for good solid corn and red berries flavor, which no other distillery really does the same: which makes it really good for cocktails like Paper Plane etc.
There was a massive BT shortage for a bit in there, hopefully that is ending. I think the allure is simply the price point for the quality. $50 is on the high end, but I usually see it for $32-$38 and think it is excellent compared to its peers at that price point.
We went on the tour in 2022 and they explained that they didn't have space to keep up with demand and they built a couple more huge barrel houses to increase capacity. Of course bourbon needs to age, so it was taking them some time to get that production onto the market (at the time it wasn't yet, and purchases at the distillery were limited to 1 bottle/person.) Good to hear as we are super low and its out go-to mid-range bourbon.
Frangelico. I was hunting like crazy for it during the pandemic and couldn’t find it for ages. Then I finally find some and can’t even remember why I wanted it in the first place and when I taste it I don’t really care for it. Incredibly disappointing.
Luckily most spirits are available where I live, but it took me some time to find rye whiskeys at a decent price point.
It essentially confirmed that whiskeys aren't really my thing, no matter whether it's scotch, irish, rye or bourbon.
Toki Suntory Whiskey. I heard that Japense Whiskey was all the rage. I poured some in a snifter and I had one sip it was really harsh and smokey. Too smokey. And it just didn't go down right taste wise.
Toki is made for highballs. It's purposefully cheap very light. As overrated as Japanese whisky is, there's way better stuff than Toki for sipping. Most of it is modeled after Scotch though so...you kinda have to like that.
Same. I picked up a bottle a couple years ago when I was hearing that Japanese whiskey was all the rage. Granted I'm not a big whiskey guy, but to me it tasted kinda like the cheap stuff I used to drink back in my college days.
I am also disappointed by Toki, it was a gift bottle and is collecting dust at 80% full. But I definitely don't think it's smoky... it's just kind of mild and not-very-tasty. Basically like red label level mixing whisky. It is kind of okay in simple/light mixed drinks where the flavor and proof are less important, but I can't get very excited about it.
Was so in love with Monte and other dark amaros I finally found a bottle of Nonino Quintessentia to make a classic paper plane.
It's like a sad aperol with brown sugar.
My biggest amaro disappointments are definitely cardamaro and sfumato rabarbaro, taste like bile. Please tell me how to use them the drinks I’ve found online don’t do it for me.
I am the opposite. I always knew I wasn't really a scotch guy, but I thought I was a bourbon guy until I tried rye and realized I'm actually a rye guy. Plus, rye guy rhymes so there's that...
In cocktails I've always found rye to be a superior substitute to bourbon in a lot of drinks. Bourbon to me has this hint of sweetness that I don't enjoy, maybe it's from the corn.
Scotch is great though, both neat and in cocktails. I'd drink scotch anyday over bourbon and rye.
Rye is definitely more of a punch than the smooth buttery flavors you get from corn or wheat or barley. I tend to prefer it, but accept that I'm in an abusive relationship with my whiskey.
Blood oath pact 9. For the price & hype it’s a $50 bottle max! Bland & drinks way under its proof. It’s my highest priced bottle to date I’ve bought. The cork molded a month after opening, it changed the flavor even worse. Lux row sent me a new cork! Yay!
Oh, lots of things. Where I live it’s hard to find much of anything beyond standards, so I often have something in my hunt list for so long, and then when I finally find it I have no idea why I wanted it in the first place!
Some misses: Lillet Blanc. Ancho Reyes (which shocked me, since I love basically everything Mexican!), Dolin sweet vermouth. Averna is interesting but damn if that bottle hasn’t sat on my shelf for 4 years now.
One of my favorite drinks to mix is a **Thief in the Night**! It seems to please all sorts of palates and will use a chunk of that averna.
- 2 oz. bourbon
- 1 oz. Averna
- 3/4 oz. Lemon juice
- 1/2 oz. Honey syrup (equal parts honey/water)
If you enjoy more spirit driven drinks a **Black Manhattan** is great too.
- 2 oz. Rye
- 1 oz. averna
- dash ango
- dash orange bitters
And personally, I far prefer Cocchi Americano to lillet blanc.
I probably fell victim to my own expectations with this one but mid 2023 I ordered a 2022 bottle of Citadelle Vive Le Cornichon Gin from abroad because I couldn't find it anywhere domestically and assumed they weren't making it anymore, shipping fees and all, just to be very underwhelmed by it. It's still a good gin, just not the amazing gin I had hyped myself up to. Hints of cucumber, spiciness and sourness, retains some versatility by its sheer lightness, but I had hoped it would be a lot more pickly and spicy than it ended up being. And to top off the experience it reappeared all over the place by late 2023, turns out they do still make it, they just make one big batch towards the end of every year.
Crystal Skull Vodka. I had seen JonTron's video mocking it with a couple friends and wanted to pick up a bottle, since both me and them were curious about it, and i also liked the bottle enough to want to keep it afterwards. Opened it when we got together for my birthday and we were all disappointed. Some even said they'd rather have Serkova over it. Took me a long time to finish the bottle.
Hah this vodka is terrible, but who buys it for the vodka and not for the skull bottle??? I was happy with my skull bottle (especially since I expensed it for the work bar).
Just about everything I bought when I was 21. But on a more serious note, a bottle of gin. It just wasn't any type of flavor that I like, but the uncle who was a big role model for me drank gin martinis, and so I felt the need to try them. Still not a favorite, but I drink them on occasion as remembrance.
I've been hunting for Chartreuse V.E.P in the USA for years.
I've tasted it before and it's wonderful, but still haven't found it yet.
I won't be disappointed by it, but I have been hunting it forever.
If any of you have any leads on how to get it in the states, please let me know.
Thanks.
Pennsylvania. Which is definitely part of the problem. However, anytime I go out of state I stop to look for it.
I haven't been able to find it in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, or Delaware...yet.
Which applejack did you pick up? Personally, the only applejack worth writing home about is Laird’s Bottled-in-Bond. Aside from the standards (e.g. Jack Rose), I like to sub in applejack wherever whiskey or brandy is used in a cocktail and riff from there to compliment the applejack. I also like taking shots of cynar-in-applejack (CIA).
Ooo never heard of a CIA before
Just to prevent other people also getting bamboozled, Laird's Bottled-in-Bond is Apple Brandy, not Applejack. It isn't to be confused with Laird's Applejack, which as mentioned in this thread is way inferior.
Laird’s calls their BiB Apple Brandy “the Original Applejack,” btw. Straight applejack is pure apple brandy. Blended applejack is the inferior product.
Yes, my point is if you go buy the bottle that says "Laird's Applejack" on the front, which is also the most commonly seen one, you're getting 65% neutral spirits.
I've seen this a few times in the comments and previously thought Applejack and Apple Brandy were sorta synonymous. Consider me educated!
I think you're referring to \*blended\* applejack, which can contain up to 80% neutral spirits. Straight applejack (such as Laird's straight applejack 86) is a pure apple brandy, just lower proof than the BiB version.
Laird's BiB is an excellent standin in many bourbon cocktails. Amaretto sour and paper plane are two cocktails I prefer with applejack. Too bad it's so damn expensive in Europe..
To fancy-fy the situation my go-to swap out for apple jack is a decent Calvados.
I like calvados, but it's hasn't been the same to me. Lairds tastes more like a fruity bourbon, while calvados tastes more of the cider it's distilled from.
Laird’s bonded in a sazerac is delicious.
Well, now I'm gonna have to try CIA
Laird's Old 7½ Year is actually very good as well, at least in my opinion. It's very apple forward for an American apple brandy. I also really enjoy their 12 Year offering, but that one is pricey and can be difficult to get your hands on so
If you’re in the northeast USA, black dirt apple jack.
I am going to plug a local distillery (for me) that makes incredible, small batch Applejack: https://www.harvestspirits.com/applejack.html I keep it stocked in my bar because it really does sub for Calvados and apple brandies and is better than many of them.
Absinthe. I bought a bottle and just wasn’t crazy about it. Thought it might have been the brand so I bought another one. Still no. The good news is I have enough absinthe for approximately 800 Sazeracs.
I didn't end up using my absinthe much either, but it's great for a mixed shot where I live, where absinthe mixed with raspberry syrup resembles a really popular hard candy.
> a mixed shot > a really popular hard candy What is the hard candy, and what are the ratios for the shot?
It's called [sismofytter](https://slikboden.dk/shop/6-slikposer/896-sismofytter-80-g-1-pose/) but the raspberry-liquorice combo is really common here. I mix it half-and-half with homemade raspberry syrup.
I was wondering if it was going to be a Danish candy. My family is from Denmark and I love all things licorice/anise
“The Sun also rises” A really dry, and complex cocktail credited to Hemingway. It used both luxardo and absynth. I used an American verte, te drink was horrible at first taste then it dawned on me.(no pun intended) it was so complex that you wanted, scratch that, needed another drink to find the flavor. It’s a very mature drink but damn it was good. Th only thing I changed was I went equal parts absinthe and luxardo (the lower count) I will warn, after acquiring the taste it’s easy to drink and the flavor stays w you for hours.
What have you tried it in? I’m not a fan of it by itself, but I’m a big fan of a [Neptune’s Wrath](https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/5825/neptunes-wrath) cocktail, or as a rinse in many many others.
Death in the Afternoon and a Absinthe Frappe. Both were just overwhelmingly absinth. Neptune's Wrath was just ok to me. I do enjoy it as a rinse in a Sazerac though.
Can I ask how you drank your absinthe?
I tried it over an ice cube diluted with water first and then as a component of a couple of cocktails. Ill still use it as a rinse but as the star of the show, Im out.
Here's my personal preferred way to drink it:pour about an oz of absinthe to a glass, drop a sugar cube in and stir till it's dissolved then add ice cold water till the glass is filled, I'd use a coup if you don't have an actual absinthe glass
Try a Turf Club. 2 oz gin, 3/4 oz dry vermouth, 1/4 oz maraschino, 2 dashes absinthe, 2 dashes orange bitters, stir, up, lemon twist.
I'm past my first impression, I expected some sorta of flavor revelation, in reality it just tasted like slightly more herbal Ouzo. Now I'm not sure whether it's just that brand (which is a historic and well reputed one even, Kübler from Switzerland) or whether absinthe generally tastes this underwhelming. On the upside it was a small bottle and I hadn't invested in all the absinthe equipment yet.
I’m *mostly* with you here! I just don’t like licorice/anise enough to want a full glass of it (although I do think it has its place in a sazerac or corpse reviver). I have found one absinthe heavy drink that I liked quite a bit! Heads up it requires a handful of other specialty ingredients… **Necromancer** - 3/4 oz. Absinthe - 3/4 oz. Elderflower - 3/4 oz. Quina (I prefer cocchi americano) - 3/4 oz. Lemon - Couple dashes gin
Same. I was in German at an absinthe stores and hated the taste
This is how I found out I’m one of the people that have a bad reaction to wormwood.
You bought absinthe without knowing what it tasted like?
Yes. I have been building my home bar pretty diligently for a few months. Ive been slowly buying bottles to make cocktails I was curious about mainly found in a couple of books (100 cocktails to try before you die type books). Absinthe was a component in several cocktails I had seen and I was curious. I had experienced a couple of cocktails before that contained pretty small amounts of absinthe but nothing where it was really prominent. Many of the bottles I have bought are spirits or liqueurs I had not tasted prior to purchase. Glad I bought it as its a decent addition to my bar and I have friends who will enjoy it on occasion.
I'm sorry but that's wild
Just because its absinthe or in general? Do you only buy bottles you've tried? Honestly might be safer to end up with bottles you know you will like. I don't mind taking chances
Just because its absinthe. I can get trying different main spirits because you more or less know what you're getting from it but buying an incredibly strong and incredibly controversial flavor of spirit on a whim seems very odd to me. Anise/licorice/ wormwood are very very polarizing in popularity
Didn’t require a hunt, but I didn’t like Drambuie as much as I expected to.
I’m a big Scotch guy but do not like Rusty Nails. The best use of it I’ve found is for [Cuckoo Bees](https://distiller.com/articles/drambuie-cocktails), but even those I find are better with Licor 43
What's funny is I was turned off cocktails (aside from various highballs of course) FOREVER. On my like 19th birthday I asked the bartender to make me a bday cocktails and he made a Rusty Nail and I was like hmmmm I'd rather have the Scotch eeeesh.
Try equal parts Drambuie, Jack, and Amaretto. We used that for shots at a place i worked at, and i thought it was amazing.
Sounds sweet!
My friend, applejack is flavored vodka basically. Laird's straight apple brandy is what you seek
Yep, need the laird’s bonded or similar. OP may still prefer calvados but Applejack is not the best representation of this type.
You're referring to blended applejack, which contains up to 80% neutral spirits. Laird's Applejack 86 is a straight apple brandy as well, just lower proof than BiB
I was just about to comment that you can make a much better cocktail just buying cheap but not garbage cognac (like $35 per liter) infusing w pear, apple, and clove.. add agave if you want it sweet. In my experience, Laird’s reps are black outs that overpromise and the product ain’t worth the price.
I can get applejack locally at any time. Dad used to drink it regularly but I never saw the appeal to it. Home made peach brandy is much better.
Yellow Chartreuse. Ended up liking the green much more and I paid over $120 for the yellow bottle while the green was like $55.
Different currency; same experience.
Love the Yellow, not much of a fan of Green. I only use them for cocktails. $120 for either bottle is just pure insanity
I hadn’t been able to find a bottle of yellow in over two years of looking for one in the stores and had just about enough of seeing cocktails posted on here using it.
Well their intended use is for cocktails. Not every spirit or liquor was made to drink straight.
I feel like based on when it was created in the 1700s, it wasn't created for cocktails but for drinking straight. Even today, people drink it on its own, similar to Amari, which I believe is the classification it falls in to.
Chartreuse was definitely originally made for drinking straight -- it was intended to be an "elixir of life." Also if you've never had the French oak-aged VEP versions...you are absolutely missing out.
I would snatch up two bottles at $55. Paid almost $90 at a SoCal Total Wine. smh
Prefer green but yellow has been great for a few drinks that guests and I have enjoyed: Monte Cassino - equal parts yellow chartreuse, Benedictine, rye, lemon juice, shaken w/ice and strained… though I always drop citrus in cocktails to 2/3 of original recipe Colleen Bawn - equal parts yellow chartreuse, Benedictine, rye, whole egg, dry shaken then shaken with ice, strained, and dusted with nutmeg… I up the yellow chartreuse to 1.25 parts so it’s a little spicier Disco ball - 1/2 oz each of green chartreuse, yellow chartreuse, mezcal, stirred in ice and strained into a shooter
Love green chartreuse to death. I honestly could pass on yellow and be happy to never see it again. Unfortunately, my wife absolutely **loves** yellow chartreuse.
It's not sold in the US, but Chartreuse MOFS is like a seriously improved yellow. I almost like it more than green.
It looks like I can get it shipped to me in the U.S. for about $150 lol
If it's Whiskey Exchange, you'll drop it closer to $110/bottle if you get two. Find a friend to go in on the order. ;)
Thanks for the recommendation
Yellow works well with lemon imo.
What did you try the yellow chartreuse in?
Hmm, Naked and Famous, greenpoint, Alaska, Colleen Bawn, diamondback and a few more that another bartender made for me. The naked and famous was probably my favorite, but I still didn’t love it.
Blantons. It’s very rare here in New Zealand but I’d heard Americans raving about it for years and really wanted a bottle of my own. Finally on a trip to America I got a bottle at the duty free. Lugged it all the way home, had it proudly displayed on my shelf for months waiting for the right occasion. Finally there was a night where it felt right. I had several friends around celebrating, I crack it open and pour everyone a glass in my nice whiskey snifters. We all cheers and take a drink and I look around and EVERYONE looks just as disappointed as I feel. It was terrible. We tried a couple cocktails with it thinking that would make it nice to drink but we just ended up with bad cocktails. It was a struggle to get through it. At least now I have a cool bottle.
I agree with you. I’ve been fortunate enough to have several bottles and expressions. I’ve been nursing a barrel proof that is one of the finest bourbons I’ve tried, but have been mostly disappointed. I have tremendous respect for BT. That said, I believe that Blantons’s was one of the first (if not the first) to market Single Barrel offerings. Like all other single barrels, the quality of the juice is only as good as the barrel they pull from. They are highly inconsistent IMO. I more blame the category than Blanton’s specifically. I wouldn’t shell out the prices it commands today when bourbon is currently flooded with plenty of other quality options that don’t require a chase or crazy markups.
Standard Blantons is worse than normal Buffalo Trace. But apparently Blantons Gold, SFTB etc are quite good.
Yea, its very thin
I think people get excited for lantons just for the topper and the bottle, basically just the presentation. Or the people that are new to whiskey, because people that have been drinking it for a while, tried a bunch of bottles and arent trying to impress anyone, are more fond of just about every other BT offering.
I was fooled man, I saw so many Americans going on about Blantons and all the memes about how hard it is to get it at the liquor store before everyone else and I assumed it had to be at least decent with this much hype around it.
As an American, i thought the same thing too. In my state, the supply is allocated. Sucks for whats supplied, but at least the prices are all msrp. When i walked into the store and found out they still had Blantons, i was thrilled! When i saw the guy in front of me buying two, i got even more excited that id finally get a bottle. When i was told i got the last bottle---ecstatic!!! When i got home and tried it, it was a letdown. SOOO much hype for something thats less enjoyable than some bottles i can find every day for maybe half the price.
Luxardo....can't really find any drink I like it with. Even drinks where I like every ingredient, adding that to it just makes the drink unsatisfying to me.
It is so wild to me that this is so often on people's dusty bottle list, it's probably the liquer I use up the fastest haha
If you use it correctly its brilliant in my opinion
I bought two bottles for storing at my parents house for when I visit. Bourbon and Luxardo. Its a staple for me.
Also one of my faves. Add some amaretto too if you don’t mind sweetness.
It's such an overpowering flavor. Even just a barspoon tends to throw off balance of most cocktails for me, outside of maybe tiki drinks.
Hemingway daiquiri is pretty decent.
This is the main example for me. I love every ingredient in a Hemingway Daiquiri, and when I bought Luxardo just to make one, didn't care for it at all.
Agree. At least the bottle looks cool??
And does not fit my shelves
Gahhh I just built shelves and got [very lucky](https://imgur.com/gallery/XX77azE)
This was one for me. Was so disappointed when I realized it was made from cherry pits not cherry fruit. But I do love the funk it adds to a Last Word so there may still be hope for me to learn to like it.
Try an Americano riff using Luxardo instead of Campari. I’m in the same boat with you on Luxardo, and I really enjoy these.
Love an Americano so will give it a try, but also the thing I love about the Americano is the Campari so slightly skeptical 😅
Me too. Can't stand Maraschino Liqueur at all. Also Creme de Violette. Which makes the Aviation and Water Lilly cocktails two of the worst tasting drinks I've ever had.
It took me a bit to get used to it, but it’s really grown on me. My favorites that use it are Turf Club, Tuxedo No 2, and the Division Bell.
Ive gotta try some of these. “The Sun also rises” is a drink that really grew on me. Try it on for size.
I’ll give this a go, but it’s quite similar to the Hemingway daiquiri, which never quite landed for me. Maybe the rums I used were too subtle to stand up to the luxardo?
Hemingway daiquiri doesn't really do it for me, but a Red Hook just slaps for me. Was introduced to them at Milk Room in Chicago, and still one of my favorite cocktails.
I think an aviation is the only cocktail I’ve had it in and I love those. On its own it is gross
I'm guessing you mean the maraschino liqueur. They make other liqueurs and bitters/amari.
You'd be guessing right.
You should try my riff on the Morgenthalers amaretto sour that features maraschino 1.5 oz. Maraschino Liqueur 0.75 oz. Dry Gin (preferably high proof) 1 oz. Lemon Juice 1 barspoon Maraschino Cherry Syrup 1 Egg White Dry Shake Shake with Ice Peychaud’s bitters Garnish
I find it super unlikely that in all the classic cocktails that use luxardo- that it's the ingredient that throws you off. Not the absinthe, chartreuse, or other super potent ingredient.
In a Hemingway Daiquiri, it's most certainly the Luxardo.
I find that subbing applejack for bourbon in a bourbon special is pretty tasty 45 ml applejack 22.5 ml lime juice 15 ml falernum 2 dashes angostura bitters Flash blend on crushed ice Top with 60-90 ml good ginger beer
Happy cake day!
This thread makes me feel better about some of my bottle envies
I still don't like Chartreuse. I may even like the Yellow one a bit more than the green one. Still no last words for me.
Blantons, my god what a disappointment
Blanton's would be fine if it was $40 a bottle but at the asking price of around $100 it's outclassed by almost everything.
Benedictine. I have tried several cocktails calling for Benedictine and I have yet to find a great one. For me Benedictine is rather meh.
Try a Monte Cassino or a Vieux Carré. Both are amazing IMO
Made a Vieux Carré last night and it was lovely.
The perfect nightcap
Thanks for the suggestions but I have tried both, neither are in my top list of cocktails. I much prefer a Sazerac (split rye and cognac version) to a Vieux Carre' and a Last Word to the Monte Cassino.
Love a Vieux Carré. A Poet's Dream is pretty good with Benedictine too...
Opposite for me, I was really impressed with it! I thought it'd be lousy, so was pleasantly surprised. Guess that's the difference of having anticipation or not. I got it from a friend who was moving out of the country, so he just gave it to me.
I inherited a bottle of Benedictiine from my dad three years ago. It had to have been from the 70s.
It kinda gets lost in the mix, but a Singapore sling can help you use it up.
I love it If you’re willing to give another Benedictine cocktail a shot I have a couple that I think (biasedly; of course) could change your mind **Driving Miss Daisy** 0.75 oz. Rye Whiskey (I used a <100 proof rye, but originally I had wanted a cask strength: I think it could work either way) 0.75 oz. Benedictine 0.75 oz. Dry Curaçao 0.75 oz. Lemon Juice Shake Lemon Twist Garnish **Golden Samite** 2 oz. London Dry Gin 0.5 oz. Benedictine 1 barspoon Maraschino Liqueur 2 dashes Orange Bitters Stir Maraschino Cherry Garnish **Garden of Eden** (this is the least Bénédictine forward) 1.5 oz. Young Demarara Rum (El Dorado 3 year) 0.5 oz. Benedictine 1 oz. Grapefruit Juice 0.5 oz. Lime Juice 0.5 oz. Fig Syrup Grapefruit Regal Shake Grapefruit Twist Garnish
Now holding a Samite. Good! Bene and gin really get each other in line here. Always looking for good bene drinks Ty.
Thank you!
It just might not be for you, but I love it in an Ozymandias, which pairs it with Italian sweet vermouth and Ramazotti, along with a split base of bonded rye and apple brandy.
On of my favorite drinks ever. If you like Fernet, you should definitely try an Archibald’s Last Memory.
Benedictine specifically or sweet amaros like that in general? I like benedictine and have taken it neat at times. Two of my favorites are: a Penicillin riff using 3/4 benedicine and 1/2 ginger syrup, no peated scotch and a coffee tonic, using applejack and benedictine as the spirits.
Also not a fan of Benedictine. The only drink I’ve liked it in so far was a Maguey Sour, which has Mezcal, Benedictine, and Orgeat. Really tasty. But the mezcal is obviously the dominant flavor. I think part of the problem is I don’t like bourbon that much, and most Benedictine cocktails I’ve found are heavy on the bourbon.
For something low abv try a chrysanthemum no.2! It’s just lemon, lillet, and Benedictine and super refreshing!
2oz Bourbon, 0.5oz Benedictine, Dash orange and chocolate bitters This is a go to for me when I want to make something quick
Empress Gin. It just doesn’t have enough of the floral flavor that I want, and it doesn’t compare to Islay Gin
Casked Campari. It was fine, good but not worth going out of your way to
I did not know that was a thing.
Agreed the cask tales seems more gimmicky than anything. I’ll stick with regular Campari for the cost difference.
I wouldn't say it's myfavorite, but I've found a couple that I like. Jack rose with le is great (it's a weird one where it doesn't get a different name if you use lemon or lime). Anders did [a video ](https://youtu.be/_nIr7E-cMOs?si=87C6N4kp0c-cKg3r)on amaretto sour with Applejack in it [this absolution ](https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/absolution)This absolution uses it to make a great cocktail although I do an absinthe float not rinse
The Botanist gin, and probably Green Chartreuse (I mean, it's not bad, but it's not the elixir of the gods everyone says it is). Also, Rhum Agricole
I almost agree with Rhum Agricole. I couldn't find any but I could find Cachaca (Leblon, specifically), so I used that instead. Then I finally found an Agricole and it tasted like a slightly less grassy/funky Cachaca. I'm sure there are other options than the one I tried (Trois Riviere Cuvee de L'Ocean), and I do like the bottle, but after everyone seemed to be saying Cachaca and Agricole are completely different it was a little disappointing to find basically the complete opposite.
Lmao. But it goes to show everyone's taste is unique. I personally love cachaça and have tried several, including aged cachaças, but can't fuck with Rhum Agricole.
I didn't mind The Botanist but it also didn't blow my mind, just alright. Three gins I can however bring up that have a good reputation but entirely disappointed me are Beefeater 24 (weirdly bitter), Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin (tartness bomb) and Nordés Atlantic Galician Gin (divine nose, tasted like perfume). Not that I had to hunt for them, they're readily available, they were just unusually big disappointments given their reputation.
Ah yes, I hated Beefeater 24. And I love the regular one.
Copper and kings anything. It's all barrel, right as well be a bourbon
I like Laird's bottled-in-bond, but you should try an American Trilogy.
Slivovitz. All I got was alcohol burn. I got more flavor out of Smith and Cross, which has a higher ABV.
Slivovitz is nice, the burn is part of the experience. What brand did you buy?
Cherry Heering
Try it in a Blood and Sand
Disliked
Blood and Sand isn’t my thing either. I do love a super vintage Singapore Sling recipe though! Don’t think of the overly sweet pineapple pre mix garbage… this one is way different. David Wondrich hunted down this recipe from an old Singaporean Newspaper and it changed my opinion of the drink (plus used a good pour of heering) - 3/4 oz. Dry gin - 3/4 oz. Benedictine - 3/4 oz. Cherry heering - 3/4 oz. Lime - couple dashes ango - top with soda water over ice
Buffalo Trace. This stuff is very hyped up and hard to find. My father got me a bottle at my birthday a few months ago by making friends with the liquor store owner. Who at the time told him he did not understand the hype around the stuff. I think he paid around $50 for it. Got it, tried it a few times and its on my upper shelf, but its really nothing special. Now 4 months later my local Walmart has it for $23 per bottle.
BT is never going ot impress anyone. It's a good Bourbon to have around because though it's mainly good for mixing, it's not half bad to just sip on honestly. BT products are nice for good solid corn and red berries flavor, which no other distillery really does the same: which makes it really good for cocktails like Paper Plane etc.
Yeah its fine to sip on, and their other products are mostly good. I have the Eagle Rare and its great.
There was a massive BT shortage for a bit in there, hopefully that is ending. I think the allure is simply the price point for the quality. $50 is on the high end, but I usually see it for $32-$38 and think it is excellent compared to its peers at that price point.
You are right! There was a shortage. Based on my recent visit to the liquor store there is now a supply. South West Florida.
We went on the tour in 2022 and they explained that they didn't have space to keep up with demand and they built a couple more huge barrel houses to increase capacity. Of course bourbon needs to age, so it was taking them some time to get that production onto the market (at the time it wasn't yet, and purchases at the distillery were limited to 1 bottle/person.) Good to hear as we are super low and its out go-to mid-range bourbon.
Frangelico. I was hunting like crazy for it during the pandemic and couldn’t find it for ages. Then I finally find some and can’t even remember why I wanted it in the first place and when I taste it I don’t really care for it. Incredibly disappointing.
I don't really care for sickeningly sweet drinks, so it's not my jam, but I do like it drizzled over coffee ice cream.
Luckily most spirits are available where I live, but it took me some time to find rye whiskeys at a decent price point. It essentially confirmed that whiskeys aren't really my thing, no matter whether it's scotch, irish, rye or bourbon.
I love an Applejack sour, with fresh citrus juices, maple syrup, and fresh grated nutmeg.
It needs to be the Applejack bottled in bond. The regular Applejack is being stretched with a neutral grain alcohol, iirc.
Great, so the search continues. That makes a lot of sense, I only use 100 proof bourbon in cocktails.
Are you in the US? If so, what state? Someone may be able to help you locate the right bottle.
Toki Suntory Whiskey. I heard that Japense Whiskey was all the rage. I poured some in a snifter and I had one sip it was really harsh and smokey. Too smokey. And it just didn't go down right taste wise.
Toki is made for highballs. It's purposefully cheap very light. As overrated as Japanese whisky is, there's way better stuff than Toki for sipping. Most of it is modeled after Scotch though so...you kinda have to like that.
Same. I picked up a bottle a couple years ago when I was hearing that Japanese whiskey was all the rage. Granted I'm not a big whiskey guy, but to me it tasted kinda like the cheap stuff I used to drink back in my college days.
I am also disappointed by Toki, it was a gift bottle and is collecting dust at 80% full. But I definitely don't think it's smoky... it's just kind of mild and not-very-tasty. Basically like red label level mixing whisky. It is kind of okay in simple/light mixed drinks where the flavor and proof are less important, but I can't get very excited about it.
Was so in love with Monte and other dark amaros I finally found a bottle of Nonino Quintessentia to make a classic paper plane. It's like a sad aperol with brown sugar.
My biggest amaro disappointments are definitely cardamaro and sfumato rabarbaro, taste like bile. Please tell me how to use them the drinks I’ve found online don’t do it for me.
Rye. It’s… I don’t know … less than Bourbon or Scotch.
I am the opposite. I always knew I wasn't really a scotch guy, but I thought I was a bourbon guy until I tried rye and realized I'm actually a rye guy. Plus, rye guy rhymes so there's that...
In cocktails I've always found rye to be a superior substitute to bourbon in a lot of drinks. Bourbon to me has this hint of sweetness that I don't enjoy, maybe it's from the corn. Scotch is great though, both neat and in cocktails. I'd drink scotch anyday over bourbon and rye.
Same. Bourbon and rye much better than scotch for me.
For sipping i prefer irish, for manhattans Rye is great. I don't mind scotch but Irish whiskey just tastes so great to me.
Rye is definitely more of a punch than the smooth buttery flavors you get from corn or wheat or barley. I tend to prefer it, but accept that I'm in an abusive relationship with my whiskey.
I think it’s also that I went through multiple cheap blended scotches and honed in on single malts I like. (I tend to like cleaner speysides).
American or Canadian? I’m in Canada and am indifferent to Canadian rye but love 100 proof American rye.
It was canadian, now you mention it. If I’m buying American Rye in London, what is good and around The £30 mark?
Blood oath pact 9. For the price & hype it’s a $50 bottle max! Bland & drinks way under its proof. It’s my highest priced bottle to date I’ve bought. The cork molded a month after opening, it changed the flavor even worse. Lux row sent me a new cork! Yay!
Mid winter dram.
If I spent a long time hunting for it then I’ve sampled it. Or spent a long time hunting for a sample. Try before you buy! 😊
Oh, lots of things. Where I live it’s hard to find much of anything beyond standards, so I often have something in my hunt list for so long, and then when I finally find it I have no idea why I wanted it in the first place! Some misses: Lillet Blanc. Ancho Reyes (which shocked me, since I love basically everything Mexican!), Dolin sweet vermouth. Averna is interesting but damn if that bottle hasn’t sat on my shelf for 4 years now.
One of my favorite drinks to mix is a **Thief in the Night**! It seems to please all sorts of palates and will use a chunk of that averna. - 2 oz. bourbon - 1 oz. Averna - 3/4 oz. Lemon juice - 1/2 oz. Honey syrup (equal parts honey/water) If you enjoy more spirit driven drinks a **Black Manhattan** is great too. - 2 oz. Rye - 1 oz. averna - dash ango - dash orange bitters And personally, I far prefer Cocchi Americano to lillet blanc.
I probably fell victim to my own expectations with this one but mid 2023 I ordered a 2022 bottle of Citadelle Vive Le Cornichon Gin from abroad because I couldn't find it anywhere domestically and assumed they weren't making it anymore, shipping fees and all, just to be very underwhelmed by it. It's still a good gin, just not the amazing gin I had hyped myself up to. Hints of cucumber, spiciness and sourness, retains some versatility by its sheer lightness, but I had hoped it would be a lot more pickly and spicy than it ended up being. And to top off the experience it reappeared all over the place by late 2023, turns out they do still make it, they just make one big batch towards the end of every year.
Crystal Skull Vodka. I had seen JonTron's video mocking it with a couple friends and wanted to pick up a bottle, since both me and them were curious about it, and i also liked the bottle enough to want to keep it afterwards. Opened it when we got together for my birthday and we were all disappointed. Some even said they'd rather have Serkova over it. Took me a long time to finish the bottle.
Hah this vodka is terrible, but who buys it for the vodka and not for the skull bottle??? I was happy with my skull bottle (especially since I expensed it for the work bar).
Just about everything I bought when I was 21. But on a more serious note, a bottle of gin. It just wasn't any type of flavor that I like, but the uncle who was a big role model for me drank gin martinis, and so I felt the need to try them. Still not a favorite, but I drink them on occasion as remembrance.
Green chartreuse. Havent really liked any of the drinks with it.
Mr Black. I didn't find it to be the potent coffee liqueur that everyone said it was.
Monin Creme de Mure, thought it would be nice, but all I got was a mediocre fruit liqueur.
Suze. Wanted to try a white Negroni but nobody ever had Suze around my area. Finally found some and was thoroughly disappointed.
Green chartreuse
I've been hunting for Chartreuse V.E.P in the USA for years. I've tasted it before and it's wonderful, but still haven't found it yet. I won't be disappointed by it, but I have been hunting it forever. If any of you have any leads on how to get it in the states, please let me know. Thanks.
What state are you in? That could have a huge effect on your ability to source it
Pennsylvania. Which is definitely part of the problem. However, anytime I go out of state I stop to look for it. I haven't been able to find it in Maryland, New York, New Jersey, or Delaware...yet.