Quadriga

My first purchase in a long time

But why? You do want to have some dilution. It (=water) is basically an as crucial ingredient as spirits, juices etc. in order to get a balanced drink..

My answer would be, too: Sours. They work with any base spirit, require, in their simplest form, only four ingredients (ice is the fourth one in case you're wondering) and are easily modifiable (add some Crème de Mûre to your Gin Sour and you have a delicious Bramble; the Mai Tai is basically an enhanced Rum Sour, too). Plus, they're not too boozy although the base spirit is cleary the prominent ingredient.

Once more plenty of rum, more than I actually need... but a) it was a bargain and b) it's Caroni rum: grab some while you can.

I'm already one step ahead of you

I fear you won't find Maison Meneau in the US. I assumed FrogPrincesse, who is French, might have tried/heard of French company Meneau, and so I asked her. Sorry, I should have been more precise in the first place.

Have you ever tried Meneau Orgeat? I like it very much. So, I've never felt the urge to make homemade orgeat (and probably never will).

I'm having some friends over tonight and hopefully, we'll be having a great time combining different gins with these tonics. Truth is, however, I never really was that much of a G&T fan, but it has grown on me.

Some new alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic toys:

Sounds too crazy (and looks too good) not to try. I needed a reason to spend some money on quality Aceto di Balsamico anyway. At this time of the year, getting strawberries that taste like strawberries might be a challenge, though.

[Host's note: this topic forms part of a longer discussion that grew too big for our servers to handle efficiently. The discussion continues from here.] Christmas present to myself: A 17yo cask-strength rum from Hampden by German independent bottler TheRumCask. I wished I had a sample of the famous 17yo Wray&Nephew Trader Vic used in his Mai Tai for comparison.

please delete

Actually, there is a Manhattan variation with rum: the Guyana Manhattan And it's pretty tasty, too.

Absolutey. The Rutte Paradyswyn is excellent.

Thanks for your replies. I have been browsing quite some online portals and have found the Woodford Bitters at Crush Wine and Spirits. That will do. They don't list the Abbott's Bitters, but LS Navy Style Rum, Sazerac and Woodford Rye instead. So, plenty of stuff to choose from. In terms of feasibility, Astor and Crush is a good combination.