What’s Tony Drinking? Wake Me Up And F*** Me Up
Coffee, please
Word to the wise — when you get a random invitation to come down to Stoli’s midtown office/bar setup and have an espresso martini on the house (and a bottle of their Elit vodka to take home afterward), don’t ask questions, just make sure you show up on time. The drinks were whipped up by Stoli’s own Global Brand Advocacy Leader, James Bowers (formerly of The Macallan and Grand Mariner fame as well), whose gift of gab is almost as finely honed as his talent for making a damn fine cocktail. Like the rest of the world, seemingly, I’ve rediscovered the late Dick Bradsell’s classic creation in the last several months, and both my wife and my best friend (who joined me for the occasion) have been getting into them too. And what’s not to love about a rich, velvety, indulgent drink that makes good on the promise to “wake you up and f*** you up”? We’ll be back any time you’ve got some coffee beans and vodka to spare.
One Of Gin’s Best Kept Secrets
Most of us know Michter’s whiskeys (and if you don’t, get thee hence to a liquor store or bar and do a little liquid learnin’). But not everyone knows that Michter’s is part of a larger operation, Chatham Imports, that produces and sources everything from wine to mezcal to a biscotti liqueur that Amaretto wishes it could replicate. Chatham’s gin, Farmer’s, is one of the best-kept secrets in the gin world, though probably not by design. Certified organic, distilled from non-GMO American grain, it resembles a classic London Dry — juniper-forward without an overwhelming piney aroma, with the other botanicals (including elderflower, coriander, and lemongrass, to name a few) in beautiful balance. It makes a perfect martini, save for one fault: it’s really easy to drink. And believe me, you don’t want to drink a martini too fast, lest your evening end a couple of hours earlier (and blurrier) than expected.
Going Old School With Old Duff
Good as the martini was (I limited myself to one), the most memorable gin cocktail I’ve had recently was whipped up for me by Philip Duff of Old Duff Genever fame. I’m counting it as a gin, even though genever is kind of halfway between a gin and a malt whisky, because back in the 19th and early 20th centuries, genever was known in Stateside as “Holland gin.” And the 1876-vintage Improved (Holland) Gin Cock-Tail (it was hyphenated back then) whipped up and bottled for me by Mr. Duff himself was originally created by the legendary Jerry Thomas. Containing Old Duff 100% maltwine genever, a trio of bitters (Angostura, Peychaud’s, and Bogart’s from The Bitter Truth), gomme syrup (actually rich simple syrup in this case), absinthe, and maraschino liqueur, it’s about halfway between sweet and dry, and utterly delightful. If reading this inspires you to run out for some genever, make sure you’re getting the 100% maltwine variety — to make it simple, get the Old Duff in the black bottle as opposed to the green bottle. If you’re curious about what the heck 100% maltwine genever even is, I’d suggest going here.
Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates… And A Bottle Of Whisky
It’s not that often that a beautifully crafted wooden box the size of a small suitcase, in which is housed a bottle of the Macallan whisky and a box of chocolates from fancy-shmancy California chocolatier Compartés, lands on my doorstep, so it behooved me to make the most of it and have a little Omicron-is-scary-so-let’s-have-date-night-inside fun with my wife. The Macallan expression in question is Rich Cacao, the debut whisky of the brand’s new Harmony Collection. Rich Cacao is blended to pair with chocolate, and it’s got some lovely dark chocolate notes of its own, making it richer and less fruity than a typical Macallan. The chocolates were created to pair with the whisky, each piece containing a rich ganache infused with a different flavor found in the liquid, from cinnamon to vanilla to date to honey. The last of the five pieces was infused with the whisky itself. You don’t need the chocolates to love the whisky, but it sure doesn’t hurt. Alas, the ginormous box with the chocolates was a limited edition of 300, and they sold out in approximately 3.96 seconds. But the whisky is still available on its own, and even if you’re pairing it with leftover mini Mr. Goodbars from Halloween, it’ll taste delicious.
Kansas City Rye: It’s Real, And It’s Spectacular
The last whiskey I drank in 2021 may also have been the first one I drank in 2022, I’m not sure — my memory gets a little foggy around 11:30 on New Year’s Eve. But Rieger’s Rye is a whiskey for all seasons. This bottled-in-bond beauty is the first rye whiskey distilled and aged in Kansas City since Prohibition. It does proud the legacy of the J. Rieger & Co. brand, which dates back to 1887 and was revived a few years back by liquor man extraordinaire Ryan Maybee and Andy Rieger, a descendant of the original founder. It’s sweet, mellow rye that, to my palate at least, has unexpected and delightful notes of peanut brittle, along with jammy fruit and more of a cinnamon spice than the usual black pepper affair. It was one of my favorite whiskeys of the year, and I never wound up writing about it anywhere… until now. Better late than never, right?