Rafa

Yes, I believe I have you to thank for bringing that drink to my attention.

A few more: The Tobacconist, with mezcals, allspice dram, PX sherry, and a million other things (tasty); The Cableknit, with Demerara rum and Calvados (one of my favorite combinations); A Walk in the Clouds, with Zacapa and Talisker (!); and Sam Ross's Sommer in the City, a shot of three parts Fernet to one part coffee liqueur. It's a tribute to this guy.

There's also the Nolita, a coffee Negroni. I like it with rye and tequila as well.

That's a good'un. Lovely color.

Dancing luau lady on the dashboard a must.

Too much negativity around here. I am going back to tiki-land. Where the rum's always flowin', the slide guitar's always ringin', and the luau girls sway softly on the sands. In the distance, Dan revs his BMW's engine and harshes everyone's mellow.

Hmmm.

Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

First-filled charred oak will give you a lot of intense bourbon-y flavor: caramels from the charring, spices (cinnamon, etc), vanilins, wood flavor. Subsequent fills will be less intense. A lot of the effects of aging (especially 17 years' worth of aging) can't be accelerated or faked, so what you'll get is a woodier, hopefully more complex W&N with some of the characteristics that the 17 year Dagger probably had. It could still be good on its own terms; I know Hale Pele in Portland house ages WN in a small barrel. Someone with actual first hand cooper experience (my wood chipping doesn't count) could answer about the effects of wood with more detail and authority .

@Princesse, I've used Sombra (mucho humo) and Fidencio Clásico (mild smoke) and enjoyed it with both. Vida should be fine. I made it with Spanish brandy originally because I wanted something that would add both sherry notes and proof, but Dan tried it with cognac and liked it, so PF should work fine. The only potential issue I see is with the PF 1840, which might change the balance of the drink with its proof. But even then it would probably taste okay. For those of you who liked the drink, you might enjoy the similar but Turkish coffee-themed Turkish Song of the Damnedby Rafa García Febles, NYC.1 1/2 oz Cynar1/2 oz Demerara Rum, Lemon Hart 1511/2 oz Coffee (Cold)1 t Old Tom Gin, Ransom1 ds Bitters, Bittermens Xocolatl Mole1 ds Cardamom bitters Stir, strain, rock. My notes: Turkish coffee, cigar, bitter chocolate. ...as well as Rhett Williams' very good Black Rider: The Black Riderby Rhett Williams, Pourhouse, Vancouver, B.C., Canada.1 oz Brandy, Torres 5 Year Old1 oz Mezcal, Fidencio3/4 oz Cynar Combine ingredients with ice, stir. Strain into a cocktail glass. --Kindred Cocktails | Craft + Collect + Concoct + Categorize + Community Personally I prefer these ingredients with the balance skewed heavily toward the Cynar, but ymmv.

I should have known to go straight to Kevin Liu.

Adam, Your search for a proper high proof dark Jamaican rum reminds me of The Dead Rabbit's quest for a molasses-intensive, dunder-funky Jamaican rum in the late 19th Century style. They also settled on a blend. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get anyone to tell me the ratios they use, but the rums are Smith & Cross, Banks 7, and Cruzan Blackstrap. I imagine mixed with a white agricole it'd also make for a hell of a Mai Tai.

What Leslie said. Also what Plantes Vertes said.

It certainly is cloudy. What's the solution? Making your freezer a little warmer. Boiling the water before freezing it also helps. Also, clear out the vent port. Ghosts like to hang there.

Wait. What? You're contributing cocktails that you haven't tried. We're watching you, bud. Wait, do you not? I have dozens of drinks in my cocktail book (not all of them uploaded by me, but still) that I haven't gotten around to making, due to not having all the ingredients at the time or whatever, but that I think look really good. I basically use KC as my master list of all cocktails I could or would want to make, by trusted or respected drinks mixers. Have I been using the site wrong? Besides all the obvious ways, I mean. No true cocktailian would neglect to try that masterpiece.

Alas, I do not care for the taste of gin. However the Japanese is an orgeat drink I'd like to make if I had any cognac. When you make the Autumn in Jersey how much ice do you use? I half filled a quart jar with crushed ice for mine, and I think it may have been a bit much, though the resulting drink fit the 15 1/2 oz glass perfectly. Do you like tequila? You might enjoy Giuseppe Gonzalez's Infante, with tequila, lime, and orgeat. Edit: the bourbon version of the Japanese Cocktail is well worth trying.

Thanks for being brave enough to review it. I've bumped it up in my to-try list.

Me! I'm a Laird's fan, I'd love it. Damn, I'm too late. How does one get a liquor company to give you free stuff? Alas, someone claimed it in person before I read these, claiming that an oversized t-shirt was just what she needed to get through winter nights with inadequate heat in this city. I recommended apple brandy cocktails instead. Should I ever get swag from a distillery again I'll set some aside for eGullet, however. And to answer your question Hassouni: 1) Enter a contest sponsored by a generous distillery; 2) lose. Presumably winning would result in even more swag. Cool, now I know what I'll wear to annoy you when I show up at your bar.

I like them also with crème de cassis. We don't have Thanksgiving... I'm going to have to try that. On the apple brandy note, the cool folks at Laird's just mailed me a bunch of swag (post-its, booklets, clothes, etc), not all of which fits. Anyone want an XL black t-shirt with the Laird's logo?

It's Jack Rose weather. I'm out of grenadine so I made one with cranberry syrup. Nice and Thanksgivings-y.

Sherry Cobblers and Smith & Cross mojitos tonight while blasting The Clash. This drink would be appropriate but I can't bring myself to drink something with a whole ounce of Cherry Heering at the moment.

Yes, but they're weaker, as they don't carry the steel gauntlets of empire. Do they sell shirts that read "I'm bigger in metric" ?

Is this the first ever recipe calling for Red Bull in grams?

The Professional is really good. Bourbon + S&C is a combination that doesn't seem like it should work but somehow does. Colin Shearn's Transatlantic Giant is another cocktail that pulls this duo off, balancing the spirits with a few other powerhouse ingredients (Cynar, sloe gin, cacao). More on topic, I made a variation on it with Campari (and mezcal) for MxMo. It tastes like a s'more roasted on a forest fire. Making dis. Of course, I'm out of Campari, which makes me just as bad as FrogPrincesse, who I believe is still out of Cynar.

Rafa is always ahead of the game. Seven months ago, I correctly anticipated that Dan would need a real pro cocktail.