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Archive for the ‘Cocktails & Recipes’ Category

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Cocktail: The Manhattan

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 9, 2010

Today I want to talk a bit about what I consider to be a most versatile cocktail, the Manhattan.  This is one of those cocktails whose origins stretch back in time to the late 1800s.  Several stories are circulated as to the exact origin of the cocktail, suffice it to say that it appears the Manhattan appeared in New york perhaps (according to the San Francisco Chronicle) as early as 1860s made by a bartender named Black at a bar on Broadway.

The family of Manhattan cocktails. From left to right, the Cuban Manhattan, the perfect Manhattan, and the Manhattan.

The original recipe of course called for American Whiskey, Vermouth , and bitters.  During and after the prohibition era, it became popular to serve the Manhattan with Canadian Rye Whisky.  Now it seems to be served with any North American Whiskey including, in some locales, with Tennessee Whiskey.

My recipe calls for Canadian Whisky ( Me being a good Canadian after all) and has a few added features and garnishes, which suit my palate.  I can also vary the recipe to suit the particular whisky I am serving.   My most recent variations are for the new Portwood Reserve Whisky from Forty Creek,   and even a a rum variation for Juan Santos 9 Year Old Rum.

Follow the link below to the page where I have provided the basic recipe,  as well as the recipes for the two of the  most common variations, The Perfect Manhattan, and the Cuban Manhattan.  basic direction is provided as well for several other variations.

Find them all here:

Whiskey Cocktail:  The Manhattan

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Rum Cocktail: Afternoon Delight

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 7, 2010

The origins of this cocktail are rather simple.  I was finishing my review for Ron Barcelo Imperial Rum, and I was struggling with a concept for a suitable cocktail.  The Barcelo rum has a very complex flavour profile, but it also seemed to taste different every time I tried it.   It would be rough and bitter one day, complex and bittersweet the next.   I decided  the rum easily picked up cues from my own palate and mood.  So I decided to do a complex `mood´ cocktail.  I chose  pineapple and lime juice as the base so that the rum would take its cues from those relatively powerful juice flavours.  I then added a touch of Cointreau for style (and a little sweet orange flavour), and finally a sloe gin float to sink in and tie everything together.  The mood I was setting was of whimsical relaxation.  Indeed this drink is particularly good when I am overworked, and I just want to unwind, relax and have a good time.  The first version of the cocktail I called the Dominican Afternoon Delight or DAD`s cocktail as it became known as in my kitchen.  And when a Dominican Rum such as Barcello is used then that name is entirely appropriate.  But the more general name Afternoon Delight is more fitting when you use other dark complex rums.   And, by the way, I do consider this a cocktail made especially for a dark rum that has spent some time in an oak barrel.

I liked the cocktail so much that I sent a copy to forrest, to see what he thought.  His reaction was entirely positive saying and I quote “MAKE ME ONE AND YOU BETTER MAKE IT 2”.  Thus the idea of forrest approved cocktails was born.

This all leads to a link to the actual cocktail recipe, the original “forrest Approved Cocktail”:

The Afternoon Delight

Please enjoy in a responsible manner, remember the aim is not to drink more, it is to drink better!
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Note:   This cocktail started a bit of a collaboration between forrest and myself.  I write a review, I run  some cocktail ideas by him, he tells me when they are good; he tells me when they are bad; or he tweaks them if that’s all they need.   Sometimes we share the results with each of us placing the cocktails on our site at the same time as well as our own reviews of the particular spirit which led to the colloaboration.  And I should point out,  I am getting by far the best end of this deal.

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes | Tagged: , | Comments Off on Rum Cocktail: Afternoon Delight

Whisky Review: Glenfiddich 15 Yr Old Single Malt Scotch

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 7, 2010

Glenfiddich 15 Yr Old Single Malt Scotch

According to legend, the first Glenfiddich distilled spirit ran from the stills on Christmas day in 1887.  The distillery was then, and is now and independent distillery.  It is currently owned by William Grant & Sons Ltd., the same William Grant who founded the company in 1887.    It sits in the Conval Hills with its own single source of water, the Robbie Dhu springs.  This water is pumped from this source directly to the distillery, so that it is untouched by man nor beast and remains in its  purest form.

Glenfiddich whisky is  distilled on copper stills,  in the same manner as it was a hundred years ago.  In fact the entire process from turning and malting the barley,  to the use of copper stills, and  the manner of aging attempts to deliver a thread of heritage unbroken from the past to the present.

Here is a link to the Glenfiddich distillery:  Glenfiddich Website

My review today is for the Glenfiddich 15 year old Single Malt blend.  The blend is unique in the world of Scotch whisky by the manner in which it is Solera aged.  (This aging technique is expanded on in the review.)

A special malt deserves a special cocktail.  Again I turned to my good friend forrest, (click the link to go to his great site) telling him I wanted to capture the essence of the alpine meadow I smell and taste in the Glenfiddich 15 year old  whisky.  He came up with a marvelous cocktail, which I then modified into a snifter drink as well.

You can read the review and the recipes for the drinks here:

Review: Glenfiddich 15 Yr Old Scotch.

Again I would like to thank forrest for this collaboration.  He is a cocktail guru extrordinaire!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Scotch Whisky, Single Malt Whisky, Whisk(e)y, Whisk(e)y Review | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Whisky Review: Glenfiddich 15 Yr Old Single Malt Scotch

Rum Cocktail: El Padrino

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 7, 2010

Okay I am revamping my cocktail section, my original concept was kind of, shall we say, not meeting the requirements of my audience.  So I redid the menu so that all the cocktails are now in one section only.  If you go to the ‘page menu’ at the side of the blog and scroll down you will find them.

Photo courtesy forrest

But on to the EL PADRINO.  This cocktail is the result of an idea of mine, which was tweaked by the cocktail guru, forrest (if you click his name you will be directed to his very nice web site).  I actually introduced this cocktail in my review of Flor de Cana Centenario Gold 18 Year Old Rum, but it occurred to me that no one would find it unless they were looking at the review.  So I decided to add it into the cocktail section with a page of its own.

This is a premium aged rum cocktail.  The idea of mine was that premium aged rums like Flor de Cana Centenario Gold, have a complex 0aky profile, which should work well in cocktails which used an aged complex spirit.  A quick check of my handy book; 1001 Cocktails: 1001 Recipes for the Perfect Drink (Hardcover),~ Alex Barker (Compiler), gave me the starting place I needed.

The cocktail recipe I found was, The Godfather, which is a simple 2 part Scotch, to one part Amaretto, recipe.  I emailed forrest and told him of my idea.  He loved it, then he tweaked it, and El Padrino was born.  Those who are  a little smarter than the average bear will realize , El Padrino, is Spanish for Godfather.  A perfect name for a rum based version of the Godfather.

Here is a link to the final version of the recipe: 

Rum Cocktail: El Padrino

Please enjoy in a responsible manner, remember the aim is not to drink more, it is to drink better!

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

Rum Review: Barcelo Imperial Rum

Posted by Arctic Wolf on January 5, 2010

The Barcelo Brand and Company was founded in 1929. The company survived the destruction of its first distillery by the San Zenon Hurricane in 1930, and has grown to be one of the Dominican Republic’s major rum producing enterprises.    Now Barcelo is an international brand which claims sales in over 20 countries on 3 continents.  The Ron Barcelo portfolio includes five basic brands which climb the ladder from the basic white rum “Ron Barcelo Blanco” to the premium rum “Ron Barcelo Imperial”.   Here is a link to the Ron  Barcelo  web page:  Ron Barcelo Web Page .

In preparing this review I went back to my good friend forrest, who is a cocktail maniac.  I wanted to make sure the cocktail I had created would ‘pass the mustard’ so to speak.  His answer to my cocktail was simple, “Make me one…better make that two!”

So complete with my “forrest approved” cocktail. Here is my review:

Rum Review: Ron Barcelo Imperial Rum

Posted in Cocktails & Recipes, Dark Rums, Rum, Rum Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , | Comments Off on Rum Review: Barcelo Imperial Rum

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