John CARR avatar
John CARR

John CARR

Australia

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It kind of did, but not in the way you think! I unfortunately couldn't find Carpano Antica, but I do have Carpano Classico and I think it is the best overall sweet red vermouth. It does all jobs perfectly and makes for a delightful Manhattan.

I’ve never actually seen that for sale in Australia! Haven’t looked online tho..

The Astor
7 Comments

Classy and sophisticated. Ran short on the sloe gin, topped up with lingonberry liqueur and a dash of Luxardo; look forward to retrying when restocked. Giffard mente pastille. Delicious and could happily increase serve by 50% for me. If you like the vintage flavour bombs (Last Word, Aviation, Corpse reviver no.2 etc) you should like this.

Byrrh Cocktail
1 Comment
John CARR

Like a Manhattan bit much lighter and brighter. Wonderfully flavourful and I’m surprised at the lack of traffic here. In the absence of Canadian Whisky split the basebetween Jameson black barrel and Elijah Craig bourbon. One for the album, Gromit

Revisiting with Canadian club - albeit local import version at diluted abv - which I consequently bumped up to 50ml. Lovely barley sugar, vanilla, spice and rye offering the groundwork for the fruit and floral of the wines. Excellent!

Canadian Club whisky
Not yet rated
4 Comments

Interesting. The image looks almost identical to the bottle in front of me, other than the word ‘oaky’ has been replaced with ‘refreshing’ and 37% abv.

And it’s a plastic screw cap rather than metal. Rear label says bottled in USA, includes Au and NZ import details.

Canadian Club whisky
Not yet rated
4 Comments
Chris Dimal

Which version of Canadian Club is this? I have never ever seen this bottle even in internet searches!

Interesting. The image looks almost identical to the bottle in front of me, other than the word ‘oaky’ has been replaced with ‘refreshing’ and 37% abv.

Zaza
4 Comments
John CARR

Tried a Byrrh version this evening (a Baba, perhaps?), with more Gin and It proportions of 52.5 fords, 30 Byrrh, no bitters. Very pleasant aperitif style drink. Could easily chuck in 5ml Luxardo to make it later in the evening.

Mulled Negroni
9 Comments
John CARR

Very Christmassy! Seemed liked the perfect opportunity for Four Pillars Shiraz Gin, especially as lacked an open bottle of red wine.
Sweet and spicy and definitely less bitter than usual, but still definitely a negroni.

John CARR

Made with actual red on this occasion: Blackstone Paddock Barossa Shiraz (full bodied, fruit led, good tannins). Again very much a negroni, with some very pleasant wine notes. Really delicious.

John CARR

I find fernet broadly reminiscent of cough syrup (not in a good way - someone back me up here pls!), so was pleasantly surprised to find this the best (least offensive?!?) use I’ve found so far, although I admit to tempering the full measure with some Strega. Some genuinely delicious flavours going on here. The orange is notably present and balancing to the fernet. Byrrh in this instance provided some nice vinous back notes. Will definitely be having again 🧡.

Light & Day
4 Comments
John CARR

One of those subtle, cunning cocktails that you can have a lot of fun with asking guests to guess the ingredients. Another testament to how Luxardo can disappear amongst other glassmates whilst remaining the driver of the whole cocktail.
The contrasting qualities of sweetness and depth with light, fresh herbal notes were really excellent.

John CARR

I assume the title is intended as a faint echo of the Cole Porter song Night and Day.

Light & Day
4 Comments
Calvin Grant

Did try this as per your suggestion in the Six Cylinder thread. Will definitely revisit this when I find that elusive bottle of Chartreuse Juane (subbed Dolin Génépy). Subtle and complex, this one demanded tiny sips to unravel the contents. Might have missed the orange had I not known it was there (navel's not the best juicer) and the cherry notes from the maraschino were rather transparent. Definitely juniper from the gin plus all the bitter hearbals from the gin, the génépy, and the barrel aged Peychaud's. Mostly.

John CARR

My feeling here is of sun-kissed springtime fields, hay rustling in the breeze, endless summers, wildflower meadows and newmown grass.

Light & Day
4 Comments
Calvin Grant

Did try this as per your suggestion in the Six Cylinder thread. Will definitely revisit this when I find that elusive bottle of Chartreuse Juane (subbed Dolin Génépy). Subtle and complex, this one demanded tiny sips to unravel the contents. Might have missed the orange had I not known it was there (navel's not the best juicer) and the cherry notes from the maraschino were rather transparent. Definitely juniper from the gin plus all the bitter hearbals from the gin, the génépy, and the barrel aged Peychaud's. Mostly.

John CARR

I guess our old friend Strega could be an option too? This one also came out well as a 2/3 serving; keep ‘em wanting more..! Double checked that yellow chartreuse contains 130 herbs, so perhaps we should be modest in our tasting ambitions! 😂. Maybe think of this as a White Manhattan?!

Light & Day
4 Comments
Calvin Grant

Did try this as per your suggestion in the Six Cylinder thread. Will definitely revisit this when I find that elusive bottle of Chartreuse Juane (subbed Dolin Génépy). Subtle and complex, this one demanded tiny sips to unravel the contents. Might have missed the orange had I not known it was there (navel's not the best juicer) and the cherry notes from the maraschino were rather transparent. Definitely juniper from the gin plus all the bitter hearbals from the gin, the génépy, and the barrel aged Peychaud's. Mostly.

John CARR

I guess our old friend Strega could be an option, Calvin?

Royal Cypher
Not yet rated
1 Comment
John CARR

Excellent, thanks Jason. I was regrettably lacking in the stipulated gin, substituted fords, but will definitely retry stronger when it comes in. I haven’t seen crown jewel on offer in Australia, not even online for ready money.

Red Hook
19 Comments
Caspian Berggren

It's sweet but it's deliciously sweet. The Maraschino elevates some cherry from both Punt E Mes and the rye, without being overpowering as I tend to find Maraschino. Maybe I'll add just a dash of Ango next time to see how that fares.

John CARR

Agreed. I felt like it needed a lift so added an orange twist this evening. I can see even a few drops of bitters adding some aromatics could work.

Six Cylinder
10 Comments
Calvin Grant

Yes you may and I will. Sounds interesting. I'll have to use Génépy. Just missed the last bottle of Yellow Chartreuse at the liquer store by a couple hours. Cheers!

John CARR

I’m sure Genepy will be delicious also!

Dutch Martini
6 Comments
John CARR

Really delicious. Naturally I used Ketel One, but might lash out with the Belvedere next time. Perfect balance and loads of subtle flavours.

John CARR

Second iteration with ODG lost balance. I added a dash of orange bitters. Some extra dry vermouth would have helped but the bottle ran dry at 15 ml precisely. Maybe take the ODG down to 10.

Dutch Martini
6 Comments
John CARR

Really delicious. Naturally I used Ketel One, but might lash out with the Belvedere next time. Perfect balance and loads of subtle flavours.

Six Cylinder
10 Comments
Simon Difford

Recipe change was driven by fine-tuning this six-cylinder and discovering that it runs best on Navy strength gin,

John CARR

Yes I’m preferring the equal parts version too. Good call! Thanks Simon!