I appreciate this Scotch because it remains stable in dilution with water or soda.

The former incarnation isn’t bad at all but I prefer the latest recipe because of its minty freshness.

I wonder where the mint tones come from here. Guess Galliano because Fernet Branca needs Branca Menta for that…

I wish the information about the amount of caffeine contained would be provided by all manufacturers of coffee liquors.

I wouldn’t recommend this as a substitute of triple sec. For my taste it is sweeter and more “orangey” in a more one-dimensional way than Cointreau & Co.

I rarely found a finish of a non-peated whisk(e)y lasted that long than with this one.

I found Amargo Chunchu (not reviewed at Diffords) much more suitable compared to Angostura Bitters. It’s fruity, cherrylike aroma profile harmonise better with the fruity notes of Pisco spirits.

Hi Simon, I think this one belongs rather into the Bianco/blanc category of vermouth as noted above. According to the Belsazar website it has a dosage of 75 g sugar/l.

Other than one would expect considering the word bitter Nardini uses here, this one is closer to Aperol than it is to Campari in respect of aroma and bitterness. Indeed, I can recommend it as a more herbal substitute to Aperol.

I took Nardini Bitter in place of Aperol and the excellent orgeat by Maisonette Meneau. Wow, that was delicious in a herbal way.

The idea of a fruity blackberry gin without any additives other than gin a blackberry juice is great. However, I wish I could taste a bit of juniper with this. While a fan of bitters of all kind, the slightly bitterness which probably comes from the blackberry seeds, in this case, it isn’t my cup of tea.

Being a fan of Fernet, I have to admit that in this case, I’ve found that only a dash of Fernet and taking Cynar for the rest of it worked way better for my taste.

The quality of this cocktail depends very much on the tequila used here. It does also benefit on an amount of blanco tequila instead of reposado for an extra fruity agave kick IMO.

I’m not sure if this is a dry vermouth because it tastes quite sweet. However, the Lustau white/blanco is a white vermouth full of character with much bitterness, sweetness and tartaric acid at the same time and spicyness. Very much like a neat cocktail of its own, it is very good in any kind of drinks asking for dry or white/bianco vermouth. Consider to reduce the amount of bitters when using the Lustau because it contains already much bitterness of vermouth and probably also cinchona.

As it turned out this variant is so far my preferred one. I did play with its basic idea a bit further and add 0,5 cl smoky Mezcal, 0,5 cl Amaro Averna (works always well with citrus fruits and substitutes here the Margarita Bitters) and did replace the agave sirup with Mastiha liqueur (which aromatic profile IMO harmonises well with agave based spirits).

With a bit less of absinthe and an additional splash of Nardini Fernet this a positive surprise!

And also with Palo Tunel and 2 extra dashes of orange bitters instead of Picon or China China

Chamomile liqueur harmonises very well with whisky, particularly Scotch IMO. I wish there are more recipes available because it is an underrated ingredient and it deserves more attention in my opinion.

This one tastes like Johnnie Walker Red label about 3 decades ago with a noticeable amount of malt added. Did give maximum assessment because it is one of the best blended Scotch Whiskys suitable for cocktails IMHO.

Since I have no Genever available at the moment I replaced it with one half of non-peaty blended Scotch with high malt content (The Antiquary) and the other one with a new western style of gin where juniper is only in the background. It worked very well!

Being less sweet compared to the market leader of Fernet, this one makes for a perfect „Caffé Coretto“ as it enhances the flavours of an espresso or coffee in a natural way.

My favourite gin for a Martini.

Because a bit too sweet for my taste, I added 1cl lemon juice and 2 cl Soda.