Stock the Holiday Bar with These Specially Curated, Distinctive Liquors
Volume II of a Three-Part Series — Liquors & Spirits and the Making of Sensational Cocktails
It’s the holiday season and you’re ready to make your spirits list. As you prepare for your yuletide soiree, level up and stock your bar with a contemporary selection of intriguing liquors and spirits. Whether they are from a company that was recently launched or from a distillery dating back to the 1800s that has introduced a new edition, combine them with mixers to create flavorsome cocktails. The mixed drinks will tantalize the palates of your guests as they enjoy all that is in store for the evening.
Named for the five judges who called a Fredricksburg, Texas farm home for a century, Five Judges Gin is a London Style, juniper-forward dry gin. The five judges, including JB Wieser, Jarvis Wieser, and Mark Wieser who served in Gillespie County, Texas in 1982, made a name for themselves in this small German immigrant community. So has Dietz Fisher. Raised in the family business called Fischer & Wieser Specialty Foods, like his dad Case Fischer, he has a passion for bringing amazing products to his region, the nation, and global community. He and his sister Elle recently launched the Dietz Distillery brand. Their first product, Five Judges Gin, is made with Rio Grande Valley citrus that is native to Texas. Serve it up at your holiday celebration as you prepare gin and tonic, French 75, martini, and seasonal Gin Fizz. This small artisan distillery also produces Peach Eau de Vie, and Pear Eau de Vie, an orange liqueur, seasonal eau de vie’s, and raspberry vodka. The spirits are made with ripe, fresh, homegrown, and locally sourced fruit.
Benriach Speyside Single Malt Whisky
The Benriach Distillery dates back to 1898 and was founded in a Speyside area of Scotland. Have one of the special edition whiskies at the bar at your Christmas party. Master Blender Dr. Rachel Barrie specially curated the Benriach Malting Season and, Benriach Smoke Season. The former was produced using barley malted from the distillery’s floor malting. The barley gold whisky has tasting notes of barley sugar, almond fudge, poached orchard apple, vanilla, and honey pear. The character of that latter is that of aromatic smoke throughout the malted barley. The new recipe of Smoke Season, burnished gold in color, has notes of caramel smoke, oak spice, citrus peel, seared apple and smoked dark vanilla. There are more than 27 rare bottles in The Archive including the 1966 Vestige and The Authenticus. See Dr. Barrie share the Benriach Creation Process. Go to this recipes link on The Press and Journal Evening Express site for the Long and Fruity, Short and Spicy, and Short and Fruity cocktails.
Owned and operated by a co-operative of agave farmers, Tanteo® Tequila is distilled, infused, and bottled by hand in the Jalisco’s Cinega region of Mexico. The 100% agave spicy tequila is available in Limited Edition Tanteo Navidad, Blanco, Jalapeño, Chipotle, and Habanero. As you prepare margaritas and such at your holiday celebration, consider add-ons like the Jalapeño Salt Bag, Jalapeño Salt Box, Tanteo Portfolio Margarita Salt, and various mixers and margarita kits. It is the season for giving. As your guests leave, give them the 50 ml mini bottles from The Tanteo Gift box. Watch this video featuring the intriguing preparation process. Check out the Tanteo Tequila Blog which shares great tips on creating cocktails, boozy frozen pops, desserts, and more.
Founded in the late 1820’s by Pierre-August Boulard, the apple-based liquor is from the Normandy province of France. The Boulard Calvado V.S.O.P. is a result of masterfully blending varying Calvados Pays d’Auge ages 4 to 10 years. By the numbers, there are 150 acres of orchards with 35,000 apple trees, having 120 varieties of apples from 800 varieties grown exclusively in Boulard orchards. The result yields an old gold color with notes of fruit, light wood, toasted notes, vanilla and ripe apple. Click this link to prepare festive cocktails they will savor.
Select this trio from Ogden’s Own Distiller for your festive gathering. Five wives Vodka is a 100% distilled corn spirit comprised of Utah mountain spring water that is hiked out of the Ogden Canyon five gallons at a time. Five Wives Sinful, with 76 calories per ounce, is a flavored vodka having a candy-cinnamon taste. Serve it as a chilled shot or cocktail with ginger ale or orange juice. Five Wives Heavenly has notes of buttery vanilla. You can serve it to your guests at the yuletide celebration as a chilled shot or as a vanilla coke. Click on this link to discover how to prepare cocktails like Malibu Wife, Five Greyhounds, Angry Wives, Cosmopolitan Wife, Cape Sin, and Wicked Wives.
Madam Pattirini Small Batch Gin
The inspiration behind the name of this gin has an intriguing background. This can be found in the Meet Madam Pattirini section of the website. Run in less than 1,000 bottles per batch, this spirit is made from Juniper, Bergamot, Coriander, Cardamom, Nigerian Ginger, and Sicilian Lemon. Each bottle is numbered by the batch and bottle. Allow the mixologist in you to create the Bee’s Knees, Cucumber Gimlet, and Southside cocktails from these recipes.
Tradition meets contemporary with The Busker Irish Whiskey. Customarily, whiskey from Ireland has been sold in three styles. Therefore, the company produces the Busker Single Collection that includes Single Grain, Single Malt, and Single Pot Still. If you desire an extraordinary liquor for your yuletide celebration, consider The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth. The yellow gold whiskey’s tasting notes reveal tropical fruits, vanilla, dark chocolate, and cinnamon, is matured, and finished in bourbon marsala, and sherry casks. Looking for simple cocktail ideas that will wow your guests? Click this recipes link for the Busk & Ginger, Busker Paloma, and Busk & Cola. Click this link to join in on The Busker Virtual Tasting.
Orrin Porter Rockwell, a skilled marksman, was the bodyguard of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Known as The Destroying Angel, legend has it he was under divine protection. The whiskeys that carry his name are flavored with ingredients that are sweet, not sugary, while being spicy and not too hot. One such spirit is the Porter’s Peanut Butter Whiskey with the sweet taste of peanut butter and rich chocolate. Others include the Porter’s Fire, Porter’s Peach, Porter’s Apple, Porter’s Huckleberry, and Porter’s Straight Rye Whiskey. Discover more than 30 Specialty Porter’s Cocktails such as Magic Underwear, Straight Melbatini, The Promority Nail, Salt Lake Quencher, and Sinful Burn.
This article is a part of the holiday wine and spirits series which features ready-made mixed drinks and beers in Volume I as well as wines and champagnes in Volume III.
Let’s Have a Wines & Spirits Sidebar — Check Out Links to 7 Articles by Leslie E. Royal
https://www.upscalelivingmag.com/six-sensational-summer-cocktails-rivaling-worlds-expensive-blends/
Medium.com Contributor Leslie E. Royal is a global travel writer, author, micro-influencer, and multi-media journalist. Her articles have appeared in numerous publications including: Chicago Tribune, ESSENCE, AAA Midwest Traveler, Black Enterprise, The Ashro Blog, FORTUNE.com, Medium, Upscale Living, and AAA Southern Traveler. She is an Ashro Brand Ambassador and the host of their popular video series called Onward and Upward with Leslie E. Royal. The creator of the Leslie’s Lane consumer information blog, she has two books: Leslie Lane The Book!: Your One Stop Internet Resource Guide to Links for Jobs, Inspiration, Discounts, FREE Stuff, Scholarships, Travel & More ( $14.95) and How to Write and Self-Publish Your Book for FREE with Amazon’s KDP: An Easy Way to Complete Your Manuscript in Seven Stress-Free Steps ($9.95). Follow Leslie on Instagram @LesliesLane and see her Amazon Author Page.
