Tempus Fugit Spirits and the Wisconsin Grasshopper Cocktail

I think that my appreciation for alcohol started early in my life. In Wisconsin, it is legal for your parents to serve you alcohol, so I was very young when I had my first sip of “Grandpa’s Pop.” I apparently liked it because, well, there is a photo of me as a baby where I was trying to steal a swig from Grandpa’s returnable bottle of Old Milwaukee. I only know this because there was a county directory that was printed shortly after I arrived in this world, and that photo ended up being printed there.

The 1970s were a weird time. Not that I remember much of them. (Because I was young, not because I was drunk…geez.)

My family has never shied away from alcohol at family gatherings. To this day, my stepmother will mix up an ice-cream pail-sized batch of “Grasshoppers” for the family to have as we exchange gifts. Now, unless you are from Wisconsin or deal with folks from there a lot, you might have the wrong idea about what I am talking about.

In most of the country, a Grasshopper cocktail is an after-dinner cocktail made from equal parts Crème de Cacao, Crème de Menthe, and cream. In Wisconsin, they have their own spin on it. Theirs uses ice cream instead of the cream and is basically a boozy milkshake. How boozy is up to the person making it. The “official” Supper Club recipe is a half ounce each of green Crème de Menthe and clear Crème de Cacao mixed with three scoops of ice cream and blended well. While I don’t know for sure what my stepmother’s recipe entails, I do know that she includes vodka if not serving it to the kids.

Rural northern Wisconsin is also super weird.

So, Frozen Grasshopper Cocktails make me think of Christmas. And when I saw a Crème de Cacao and a Crème de Menthe, each for over $30 per bottle, I decided to make some for my own Christmas celebration, even if it is just going to be my wife and I and a bunch of dogs. I’ll be honest as far as I know, I’ve never had a Grasshopper made with anything but Phillips or DeKuyper brand liqueurs. The bottommost-shelf of bottom-shelf brands. I had to know what one using booze that cost more than $12 per bottle tasted like. Hell, I needed to know what the liqueurs themselves, at triple the cost, would taste like. Could I actually drink them on their own? Would I be disappointed? Enraged? Excited? No idea. But it’s Christmas, and I was on a mission to try and make a better version than the one I grew up with.

OK, before we get into the meat of this, let’s take a moment to look at the purveyors of these upscale liqueurs. According to their website, Tempus Fugit Spirits is a California company that started out importing European Absinthes when they became legal in the US again in 2007. Along the way, they expanded…you know what? Let’s just let them tell it:

Along with the world’s finest absinthes, Tempus Fugit Spirits was determined to seek out fine rare liquors that were once staples in classic pre-prohibition cocktails, but have been lost in time. In most cases, we re-create these liquors ourselves, using historic 19th century protocols, many cross-referenced in several languages, to arrive as close in taste to these forgotten spirits as is possible, or surpass them – rare fruit, flower and plant liqueurs, bitters, amari, vermouths and chinati – we pride ourselves in finding out what’s missing from the back-bar that our cocktailian friends are searching for.

Our focus is on what is often called a cocktail ‘modifier’; those spirit-based ingredients used to transform whisky, gin, rum, etc. into a cocktail. We find today this category abused by industrial methods of production, artificial flavors and colors. We know these liqueurs were created in the past to be drunk alone, as aperitifs or digestifs, and were made with great pride and care by the best distilleries and liquorists.

So yeah. That sounds exactly like what I was hoping for when I picked up the bottles for my Christmas Grasshoppers. Here are the tasting notes, and then I’ll get to my own recipe.

Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao

Purchase Info: $37.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.53

Details: 24% ABV.

Nose: Nutty and chocolatey. Think of the best gourmet chocolate bar you've had.

Mouth: Thick and sweet with a wonderful taste of cocoa nibs.

Finish: Sweet and gentle with the lingering flavor of a good candy bar. Notes of milk chocolate, caramel, and vanilla.

Thoughts: This is the best Crème de Cacao I've ever had. It's nutty like Cacao nibs, obviously chocolatey and sweet. Much better than the cheap stuff I used to buy. If it weren’t so sweet, I’d drink this on its own.

Tempus Fugit Crème de Menthe

Purchase Info: $46.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Curiada.com

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.13

Details: 28% ABV.

Nose: Straight candy cane peppermint

Mouth: Liquid candy cane.

Finish: Long, very minty, and cool.

Thoughts: Very sweet and minty, just like you'd want from a mint liqueur. It is very tasty even if it is less complicated on the palate than the Crème de Cacao. I’m very happy with this as well. Both of these taste like what you’d want them to taste like, not like there are a bunch of artificial flavors in there.

Ok, now, after all that, here is my base recipe for a Frozen Grasshopper. This is just a base. You can adjust all of the ingredients as you wish and even leave some out, or be like my stepmother and add even more booze to it. This is the most forgiving cocktail recipe you’ll make.

Arok’s Frozen Wisconsin-Style Grasshopper

• 3 small scoops of a good vanilla bean ice cream (about 150-200 grams total)

• 1 fluid ounce Tempus Fugit Crème de Cacao

• 1 fluid ounce Tempus Fugit Crème de Menthe

• a splash of coffee or coffee liqueur

• green food coloring (optional, if you want the traditional Grasshopper color that would usually come from the green-colored Crème de Menthe. I tend to leave it out, but I wanted the picture to be accurate)

Blend the ingredients on low to medium-low to mix well but not melt the ice cream. Pour into a suitably vintage glass. Garnish with a mint sprig and/or a crushed-up York Peppermint Patty. And enjoy!

I’ll be taking next week off to enjoy Christmas with my family, so I hope each and every one of you has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

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Smoke Wagon Blender’s Select Straight Rye Whiskey

Have you noticed that as we get closer to Christmas and New Years, people get a little less, oh, I don’t know, dedicated to doing what they should be doing and a little more open to taking it a little easier? When I worked in an office, the week before Christmas was always a bit more laid back than normal. The week between the holidays was dead since both co-workers and clients tended to be off doing a little merry-making. And then you’d hit the inevitable cliff of coming back to work on the second, and everyone would be cranky. The cold seemed a little colder. The magic was just…gone until spring.

Or maybe it was just me. I do tend toward depression, after all.

In any case, I’ve always found the holidays to be a little magical. People who are normally grumpy turn out to be the type of folks who put up lights and decorations, even if it does raise the electric bill. People tend to be just a little nicer (unless you are in a store, then watch out). Even the snow seems less of an obstacle and more of a decoration. Yep, the time from Halloween to New Years is probably my favorite time of the year. However, I look forward to fewer emails informing me that it is my last chance to buy something.

Speaking of spending money, let’s turn our attention to tonight’s whiskey. Tonight, we are looking at the final installment in the Smoke Wagon trilogy, as suggested by reader David. This time, we turn our attention away from bourbon and over to rye whiskey. I love rye whiskey, maybe even more than bourbon. If RyeGuy hadn’t sounded so much like a McDonaldland Character, I might have considered it as a name for the site. Of course, in 2011, when I was planning this thing out, there wasn’t nearly as much rye whiskey on the market, so I wouldn’t have had a whole lot to write about.

Like the other Smoke Wagon whiskeys that we’ve looked at, this is sourced from MGP in Indiana. This one is made from a blend of their 51% rye, 45% corn, 4% malted barley recipe and their 51% rye, 49% malted barley recipe. The latter of which is the basis for this year’s 2023 Rossville Union Bottle in Bond limited edition. I liked it alone for that one, so let’s see how it stacks up when blended with another rye mash bill. But first we will let the producer have their say:

We selected barrels of the sweet, delicate 51% rye, 45% corn, and 4% barley traditional straight rye and blended it with barrels of the big and bold 51% rye, 49% malted barley straight rye. The end result is an upfront flavor profile that's beautifully sweet and rich with a luxurious mouthfeel. The finish has just enough cinnamon and rye spice to get your tongue tingling while the flavors from the malted barley, such as smoke and malt are still present, but softer and more subtle. 

Alright, let’s dig in.

Smoke Wagon Blender’s Select Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: $72.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.87

Details: Bottled Oct. 21, 2023. Batch 6. 56.89% ABV.

Nose: Cedar, mint, and cinnamon sugar.

Mouth: Cedar, cinnamon, brown sugar, cherry, and mint.

Finish: Medium to long and warm with mint, cherry, and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: This is delicious. Even my rye-adverse wife enjoys it. It's dangerously drinkable neat. Yet it also takes a splash of water well. Water brings out more malty "nougat" notes. I think this is my favorite of the three Smoke Wason Whiskeys we've explored. As with the other two, though, it’s just too expensive for me to purchase on a regular basis. Not when I can usually get MGP whiskey much cheaper from other bottlers or even from MGP itself. But if I were in Vegas and saw it behind the bar or on a menu, I’d probably have no qualms about supporting a local business by buying a glass.

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Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon

Hello my friends! I hope that you are having a wonderful day. I know I am. Today I got to enjoy 50 degree weather. In Minnesota. In December! Days like this make it hard to get anything accomplished. So instead of working, I spent the day outside taking photos for some upcoming items that I’m going to be putting up on the Etsy store sometime next month. So I guess I was working, but it didn’t feel like it. I’m really excited for these as I am back to playing with barrel wood. This time I took portions of barrel head, planed the front down to a nice clean surface, and then engraved a design on the front before finishing them with a clear polyurethane. They look great! I just am not quite sure how to get them to people yet. I need to find boxes to ship them in.

But that isn’t why you are here (though if you are interested in those you can go to BourbonGuyGifts.com and favorite the shop. I think that will give you a notification when I put up new items.) No you are here to find out about the next entry in our Smoke Wagon series. Tonight’s bourbon is the barrel-proof Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon. As you might guess, this is a barrel-proof version of the Smoke Wagon Small Batch that we looked at on Tuesday. I don’t have much to add to what I wrote then so we will hear what the producer has to say and then jump into what I thought of the whiskey.

It’s nice out. I want to keep this short and sweet so I can enjoy a bourbon near the fire pit tonight.

We took the same vintage blending philosophy that we used to create Small Batch, except this time the goal was to create high proof bourbon that tasted its best neat. Uncut is so rich and sweet with an unbelievably thick mouth feel, the heat and rye spice finish are a welcome addition. It's like milk with cookies!

Let’s dig in!

Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered Bourbon

Purchase Info: $79.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.33

Details: Batch #192A. Bottled Oct 9, 2023. Distilled in Indiana. 57.98% ABV.

Nose: Cinnamon, spearmint, toffee, and dusty oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon, spearmint, maple, citrus zest, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, chocolate, and toffee.

Thoughts: This is very good. Much better than the Small Batch Bourbon. It is rich with a wonderful mouthfeel. It's much sweeter than I would have expected and I think that works very well for this particular flavor profile. Overall $80 is still more than I like to spend for bourbon but it's still cheaper than a lot of the barrel-proof bourbons on the shelf (unless you compare it to the one's from Lux Row who happen to be owned by MGP, this brand's presumed supplier) so if I see it again, and am looking for a barrel-proof bourbon, I’ll be sure to give it another look. I like it more than the Small Batch so if the choice was between he two, I’d choose this one.

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Smoke Wagon Small Batch Bourbon

Way back in April, reader David reached out to me to see if I’d ever had Smoke Wagon Bourbon from Nevada H&C Distilling and to request that I give it a try and give my thoughts on it. Unfortunately at that time I hadn’t had it. In fact I really didn’t have much of a way to get my hands on it that didn’t involve traveling to another state. And so I tucked the suggestion away for the next time I traveled.

Well, I didn’t travel much to see family this summer and I honestly forgot to look during our September vacation. But not to worry, by October it was on shelves. And not only was the small batch that David had requested, but also a barrel proof bourbon and a straight rye as well. I picked them all up and could put them all in one post, but instead I will be milking them for content this week and next.

You’re welcome.

So who is this newcomer to Minnesota? Well, as far as I can tell, they are a small producer out of Las Vegas, Nevada. The products that I have picked up say that they are “Distilled in Indiana” and “Bottled and Aged by Nevada H&C Distilling Company, Las Vegas, Nevada.” Which means they are sourcing the whiskeys though it looks as if they are distilling their own vodka, so maybe they are also distilling and aging their own whiskey for future release. If not, MGP is a great source for high-quality bourbon.

Here is what the producer has to say about the Small Batch Bourbon:

Released in 2016, our goal was to create a unique great tasting high rye content bourbon. The problem is that rye ages much faster than corn. So while our younger vintages had a big rye spice flavor (which we love) the mouth feel was too thin and it lacked the sweet, delicate complexity of a well aged spirit.  Our older vintages had the  smoothness and sweet notes that can only be achieved  by moving in and out of #4 char and caramelized oak for many, many years, but the nice rye spice had been aged out! So what to do? Find the perfect blend. We combined the two. The younger vintages maintain the bold spiciness of the rye, cut down on the tannins and keep it fruit forward.  The older vintage brings in a creamy mouth feel with sweet aromas and taste notes that only appear over time from aging in a barrel. We hope you enjoy drinking it as much as we enjoy making it.

One last thing I will say is that the retailers in Minnesota don’t seem to have a lot of product on hand. Almost every place I’ve see it has a “limit one” sticker on the bottle. And since they are currently only listing about 23 states that they distribute to on their website, you may or may not be able to get your hands on this one. But it came well recommended by David so let’s see if we agree here in the BourbonGuy household. And whether we think you should try to search it out.

Smoke Wagon Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase Info: $59.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00

Details: 50% ABV. Distilled in Indiana

Nose: Cinnamon candy, orange peel, and just a touch of oak.

Mouth: Vibrant cinnamon candy and ginger rounded off with notes of caramel, vanilla, and a touch of oak.

Finish: Medium length and spicy. Notes of ginger, cinnamon candy, black tea, orange zest and dried grains.

Thoughts: I've tried this twice now. One time was the day I bought it. It was the second bourbon of the night. That night I found it so delicate that I was convinced that someone had accidentally put a light whiskey in the bottle. The second time I tried this was as I did these tasting notes. This time it was the first item I tasted and it was very vibrant. Though I'm still getting the "light whiskey" notes, they are further down the palate. In fact, if you'd have blindly handed me a glass and told me it was a very good Canadian whisky, I'd have believed you. That said, I like it. I probably wouldn’t spend $60 on it again, but I'd happily drink it if you were buying.

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Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2023 Edition

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Getting this done a little early today. I get to go out with my wife tonight as we revel in the mid-holiday lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas when fewer people need dog sitting. I love my job. I really do. But I do miss being able to leave the house. So tonight, my wife and I are headed over to the Mall of America (not for any real reason other than that it is basically the closest mall to our house that still has more than a couple of stores in it) to do a little Christmas shopping. I’d say more, but I know that some of the folks I buy presents for may be reading this, and I don’t want to give anything away.

So, let’s move over to the bourbon, shall we? Tonight’s bourbon is the most recent release in the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond series. One of the few bottles that are over $100 that my wife would probably purchase just for the bottle. This is really weird to me as we have an empty bottle of the vintage design that these were based on. Of course, you don’t get really tasty whiskey with that vintage empty, either, so maybe that’s why.

Quoting from the press release now:

“As a leader of the Bottled-in-Bond category, Heaven Hill is proud to offer a premium product within this special class which showcases the authenticity and quality of the American Whiskey portfolio,” said Conor O’ Driscoll, Master Distiller at Heaven Hill Distillery. “The Fall 2023 8-year-old Old Fitzgerald Bottled-In-Bond has the best qualities of a classic Kentucky Bourbon with the unique sweetness and spice this beloved brand is known for.” 

These are usually really tasty but also often much older (and more expensive), so let’s see if this one stacks up.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Fall 2023

Purchase Info: This 200 mL sample was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $109.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.33

Details: 50% ABV. 8 years old

Nose: Brown sugar, oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mint.

Mouth: Chocolate, mint, cinnamon, oak.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon, mint, and nutmeg initially, with chocolate, caramel, and oak appearing after they fade a bit.

Thoughts: Well, this is delicious as usual. The chocolate notes build and intensify as you take more sips, and are delicious all the way through. The nutmeg note is quite prominent and carried through the entire tasting process, attaching itself to the oak notes in a way that initially made me think of a Christmas Wreath before resolving into its constituent parts. So yeah, it’s really good. If I saw this at retail, and it was close to its SRP, and I felt like splurging, I’d bring this home so my wife could have her bottle. But luckily for my wallet, at least two of those are unlikely to happen.

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Border Bourbon-Port Barrel Finished, South Lyndale Liquors Selection

I fucking had to shovel the driveway today! I know that I shouldn’t be complaining about snow…in December…in Minnesota. Especially not when this is the first time I’ve actually had to shovel this year. But damn it, I am a spoiled brat who doesn’t like being uncomfortable. And I hate snow with a passion. You might ask, “Eric, if you hate winter so much, why do you continue to live in Minnesota?” Which is a good question.

And one I ask myself every time I shovel the driveway.

But I guess there are problems everywhere. We don’t get earthquakes, or tsunamis, or religious zealots trying to take away people’s rights, or wildfires. Or at least not enough that we need to worry about them too much. Minnesota gets snow, which is fine, I guess. It’s not like I have to drive in it as a self-employed designer. That, however, doesn’t mean I can’t whine about it.

Now that that is out of the way, let’s get onto more important things. Bourbon. You know, the thing I use to make myself forget the white shit falling from the sky. I kid…mostly.

Tonight’s bourbon is a store pick from my favorite liquor store in the Twin Cities. South Lyndale Liquors was always a very well-stocked liquor store with old, creaky floors and a tiny parking lot. It had a lot of charm, mostly brought in by wondering if the shelves were going to fall on you if you stepped too heavily while in their vicinity. Well, they recently moved into a much larger and very beautiful space, and I needed to check it out.

What I like about the store, and what makes it my favorite place to shop for liquor when I venture out, is that I always find something fun there. It might be a little out of my way, but it is well worth the detour for me. Plus, they seldom miss on their barrel picks. They are almost always delicious. So when I saw a barrel pick from a local distillery and noticed it was barrel-finished in a way that I hadn’t tried from them before, I knew I needed to pick it up…along with a box full of other fun things.

So let’s dig in.

Border Bourbon Port Barrel Finished, South Lyndale Liquors Selection

Purchase Info: $74.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 50.5% ABV. Port Barrel Finished. Barrel #250

Nose: Dusty oak, plum, almond, honey, and allspice.

Mouth: Follows the nose with oak, stone fruit, almond, honey, and cinnamon spice that builds the longer you hold it in your mouth.

Finish: Medium to long with a warmth that blossoms up after a moment. Notes of oak, plum jelly, honey, and baking spice.

Thoughts: I really like this one. My wife is less enthusiastic but admits that might be just because she isn't enjoying the fruity port finish as much as I am. I'm finding this sweet and fruity, with a nice bit of oak to round out the experience. Quite tasty. Though as I said, I would have been surprised if it hadn’t been. Store picks from South Lyndale Liquors rarely disappoint.

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Yellowstone Special Finishes Collection, Toasted

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Yellowstone Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

I think that Yellowstone Bourbon is one of the coolest stories in the bourbon industry. The brand was initially launched right around the declaration of Yellowstone National Park. It was apparently good whiskey and the brand was extremely popular until it fell on hard times. When I first had a pour of a bourbon with the name Yellowstone on it, I was in Yellowstone National Park surrounded by family and drinking a very bad bourbon. This was 2015 at the tail end of the brand’s hard times. But this is where it gets cool.

The brand’s owner at the time was Luxco, now a part of the MGP family. Right about the time they were starting the Lux Row distillery, they also bought a stake in Limestone Branch distillery. Which, it just so happens, was owned by a pair of brothers who were decended from the family that initially launched the Yellowstone bourbon. At that point, the home of Yellowstone was moved to Limestone Branch and placed under the supervision of Steve Beam (the previously mentioned decendant) who has been doing wonderful things with the brand.

Someday, someone should do a short history of the rise, fall, and rehabilitation of Yellowstone Bourbon. It’s a cool story that I didn’t come close to doing justice to.

Tonight’s bourbon is a new extension of the Yellowstone Bourbon lineup. It starts with the standard Yellowstone Select. That is then “stave finished” with five different toasted staves they call high toast, American oak double-toast, vanilla, rick house and spice rack. Here’s what the press release has to say about the new bourbon.

“The Yellowstone Special Finishes Collection is a great way to honor more than 150 years of bourbon heritage while still keeping things fresh and exciting,” said Beam. “I began experimenting with toasted barrels in 2016, 2017, and 2018 with Yellowstone Limited Edition releases and again more recently with distillery-exclusive Yellowstone Toasted Single Barrel. My experience helped in crafting what stave flavors to use and at what percentage to get the right flavor profile for Yellowstone Toasted. I can’t wait for consumers to try this latest full-time member of the Yellowstone Bourbon family.”

So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Yellowstone Special Finishes Collection, Toasted

Purchase Info: This sample was sent to me at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $49.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.33

Details: 50% ABV

Nose: Caramel, vanilla, spearmint, Juicy Fruit gum, baking spices, and oak.

Mouth: A nice peppery spiciness on the first sip. Beyond that are notes of cinnamon, black pepper, vanilla, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Sweet and spicy and of medium length. Notes of honey, vanilla, black pepper, black tea, cinnamon, and oak.

Thoughts: This is really good. So good that when I went back to check the price, I was shocked that it was "only" $50. I think it is worth every penny. I'm really enjoying the sweet and spicy notes. I love honey, so the honey note on the finish is right up my alley. This is a lovely upgrade from the standard Yellowstone Select Bourbon.

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Campari Negroni, Ready-to-Drink Cocktail

I used to scoff at ready-to-drink cocktails. I like making cocktails, so I couldn’t understand why anyone would settle for a sub-par, overly sweet drink from the store when they could just make their own.

Yeah, I was kinda dumb.

Look, I get it. There are plenty of times I really want a cocktail, but I have zero ambition to make it. In such cases, I have three options. Drive to a place that makes cocktails, see if my oh-so-beautiful wife will make one for me, or just settle for a pour of bourbon in a glass. All three options come with their drawbacks.

The first one, obviously, means I need to leave the house, and I’m going to be honest with you here: if I can’t muster the ambition to go make a cocktail, do you think I’m actually up to putting on “real clothes” and leaving the house? Not a chance. The third one is what happens most of the time. I just pour a glass into a pretty cup and call it “good enough.” And it is, but sometimes I really want more than just a pour of bourbon. In such times, I turn to option two: ask my wife to do it for me.

Now, as I said at the beginning, I love making cocktails. My wife, however, does not. If I ask her to do it, I will most likely get an Old Fashioned. One bottle, a couple shakes of bitters, and one squirt of a sweetener such as honey or agave nectar. Which is great. Except sometimes I want something that isn’t an Old Fashioned. Something like a Negroni, for example. In the past, I’d just get up and do it myself. I’m not the kind of person who asks someone to do something for me when I’m feeling lazy and then critiques what they do for me.

Notice the “in the past” in that previous paragraph? Yeah, I found something online that intrigued me as I was trying to spend enough to get free shipping (spending more than shipping would cost in order to qualify for free shipping is totally logical, right?). I was buying a bottle of Wyoming Whiskey’s National Park No. 3 from Reserve Bar when I saw a 375 mL bottle of Campari Negroni, a ready-to-drink version of the Negroni cocktail. And last night, I put it through its paces…which is just a fancy way of saying I drank two cocktails. One ready-to-drink and one that I made fresh using Beefeater 24, Noilly Prat vermouth, and Campari. Here are my notes.

Campari Negroni, Ready-to-Drink Cocktail

Purchase Info: $26.49 for a 375 mL bottle from ReserveBar.com. It sells at Total Wine near me for $23.99 for a 375 mL.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $3.53

Details: 26% ABV

Nose: Chocolate and cherry

Mouth: Oxidized wine notes along with citrus and baking spice.

Finish: Short and deliciously bitter with notes of cherry, citrus, and chocolate.

Comparison to freshly made: The freshly made is brighter, but the bottled is more complex. Both benefit greatly from an expressed orange peel over the glass.

Thoughts: If I have the ingredients and I make the cocktail, I’ll prefer the freshly made version. It allows me to change the gin I'm using to whatever I'm in the mood for on that day. And with the Beefeter that I used, I prefer the brighter, less oxidized taste of the freshly made. That said, I very seldom have vermouth in the house, as a Negroni is the only cocktail I make where I don't swap the vermouth out for an amaro. So, I can totally see a place in my life for the bottled version. This way, I can have a Negroni on nights when I convince my oh-so-beautiful wife (whom I dearly love) to make cocktails, or there is no vermouth in the house. It’s close enough that I wouldn’t have noticed in a non-head-to-head matchup.

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