Clynelish is a highland single-malt scotch that was brought to my attention by a coworker. This is a fairly peaty but sweet scotch, if that makes any sense. It extremely easy to drink straight or with a little water despite being 94 proof.

The biggest thing I noticed with this one was that it was sweeter than most scotch. Not as sweet as a bourbon, but certainly sweeter than I’m used to with scotch. If you’re looking to break into peatier scotches, you might give this a try as its a bit of a more gentle introduction.

Finding it, however, might prove difficult. The distillery apparently doesn’t bottle much of this stuff. It is, in fact, one of the major components of Johnnie Walker Gold.

Being difficult to find, I’m not going to suggest you go find this, but if you do see it sitting on a shelf somewhere, you should certainly give it a go.

Booker’s is a small batch, single barrel, cask strength bourbon that is simply fantastic.

In 1992, Booker Noe introduced his own signature bourbon, Booker’s® True Barrel Bourbon. Inspired by a 200-year-old tradition, Booker’s is the first bourbon bottled straight-from-the-barrel, uncut and unfiltered. First created as a holiday gift for his special friends, Booker’s whiskey was so well-received that he decided to make it available to bourbon lovers worldwide; much to the joy of spirit connoisseurs everywhere.

This stuff is a damned fine bourbon, if a bit on the sweet side. It is terribly expensive for a bourbon but it is cask strength, coming in at 121 to 127 proof. The smell and taste of this stuff is that of caramel and vanilla. This bourbon was made for sipping. It goes extremely well with a good tobacco, either a good pipe or cigar.

As I said, it is quite expensive, priced more like scotch than bourbon but if you love bourbon and can stand the $50 price tag, I highly recommend to try this one. Personally, I’d been avoiding this one until my recent time in the scotch aisle loosened up my wallet a bit.

Single-Malt lovers have no fear. I return to the scotch aisle next time. I still have a load of recommendations to get through.

AMARETTO SOUR

• 1 ½ ounces Amaretto
• 1 to 2 ounces Sweet and Sour Mix

Pour ingredients in a shaker filled with ice, shake well, and strain into a ice-filled glass. Garnish with cherries and/or orange slices. Personally, the orange makes it a bit too acidic for my taste, so I just place cherries in mine. Believe me, you never feel it until it hits you

POINSETTIA

• 1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier, or Triple Sec
• 1 Part Cranberry Juice
• Champagne
• Juice of ½ lime (optional)

There are several variations of the cocktail. One version has you mix the triple sec and cranberry juice, then adding the champagne and floating the lime juice on top. Another has you pour the cranberry juice in the glass, add the champagne, and float the Grand Marnier, skipping the lime juice. Whichever you prefer, I hope it helps you to enjoy the holiday!

Hat tip to Vmaximus

Johnnie Walker Green Label is a blended scotch which is going to turn many of you off immediately. It shouldn’t however. It isn’t a terribly light scotch like the Glenmorangie or the Glen Moray. There’s a lot of flavor here without a harsh edge. I’ve only tried one other blend, Chivas Regal, and the Johnnie Walker certainly tastes much more scotch-like than the Chivas. The price of the stuff, unfortunately, is a bit high. My recommendation is that if it is available, give it a try as it might change your perception a bit on blended scotch whiskys.

Glenfiddich 15 year old single malt scotch is the current Booze of the Week. I’ve only first cracked this one open but damn this stuff has some flavor. First impressions are important and this one makes a good first impression. I’ll update and bump this in a couple of days when I’ve had more time to enjoy it.

Bump & Update [ArmedGeek]:

I’m unable to find fault with this scotch. Sure it may not score tops in any given category but it does place pretty high in most every aspect. If you’ve not been down the scotch path and are looking to try it, I still suggest the Macallan 12 but if you want something with a bit stronger flavor, this would be one to grab.

Not too expensive either as this came in at just shy of $50 for the fifth. The Macallan 12 and the Glenfiddich 15 certainly do make me look forward to spending more money in the scotch aisle of my friendly neighborhood liquor store.

May as well do a Football update here:

…and a Deadpool update:
No new deaths, but we do have about 3 or 4 celebs that have been circling the drain here lately.

Yes, I had to try out what is probably the most popular blended scotch out there. I have to say, it isn’t bad. The taste, the smell and the color are all pleasant. There’s really only one bad thing I can say about the stuff. It has a flavor more like Irish whiskey than Scotch. Now, for me, this is not a bad thing as I really like Irish whiskey but for a scotch drinker, this ain’t gonna cut it. It does have a more scotch-y flavor than you’d find in an Irish whiskey but it is very easy to drink. On this one, I have to say “for the price” it is pretty good stuff.

H&B Football Pick’em stats!

The featured drink for this week is more of a summer drink. It is also a very famous drink. There are songs, a movie, a band (or five) named after it. The ease of making it is rivalled only by the prettiness of the color, even though it falls in the orange side of the spectrum.

Tequila Sunrise

• 2 oz. Tequila
• Orange Juice
• 2 dashes of Grenadine

Pour tequila in glass of your choice with ice, and top with orange juice. Stir. Add grenadine by tilting glass and pouring grenadine down side by flipping the bottle vertically very quickly (it helps if the grenadine bottle has a little pourer to prevent over-dosing on this). The grenadine should go straight to the bottom and then rise up slowly through the drink. Garnish with cherry and an orange slice.

I have done this as a martini glass drink, too. I shake the OJ and tequila over ice, and pour into a sugar-rimmed martini glass. The grenadine looks very pretty on the bottom of the glass. My sister omits the sugar and grenadine altogether and calls it a Mexican Screwdriver. I call it heresy. My brother-in-law omits the OJ and calls it Nytol.

I can’t argue with that

It means I get to start drinking early. And what better drink, than one that looks so innocent??

The Lemon Drop

• 1 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Lemon Juice
• 1 Sugar Cube

Add sugar to the rim of an old-fashioned glass, and drop a cube or packet of sugar into the bottom of the glass. Pour vodka and lemon juice into a stainless steel shaker over ice, and shake until completely cold. Pour into the prepared old-fashioned glass, and serve. Personally, I like using Sugar in the Raw™ to rim the glass, since it’s prettier than yellow colored sugar. Also, I add two cubes instead of one. Why? Well, for one thing, I like sweeter BOOZE*, and for another, I can get sloshed a lot quicker.

*Yes, still angling for the G00000glers.

BRANDY ALEXANDER

• 1 ½ oz. Brandy
• 1 oz. Dark Creme de Cacao
• 1 oz. Half-n-Half
• ¼ tsp Grated Nutmeg

In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine the brandy, creme de cacao, and half-and-half. Shake well. Strain into a sugar-rimmed cocktail glass and garnish with the nutmeg. You can also use grated allspice. I like using a combination of cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg for a very autumn-y flavor. Brings to mind pumpkin pie, only with BOOZE**.

* According to Bako, this is a Grandma drink. According to me, Grandma had it going on if she was getting sloshed to this.

** Still G0000000gling for hits.