Rob San

I completely agree about the 151. It needs a but of a kick with all the dilution. El Guapo's Polynesian Kiss bitters also were great.

👍 I'll need to try that bitters as I love my rum drinks & margaritas.

Really unique, tasty sipper that reminds me of a Last Word. I love the exocticness of Chartreuse & Campari & while I'm sure the Campari affects the unique complexity, the .5 barspoon is not discerable.

Love this drink, but I have two questions. What would you substitute for the Amer Picon for those of us in the USA (where it's not available)? Have you tried this with Picon Biere, which was the only Picon I could find in France last summer? How does that compare to the Amer? Thanks everyone!

I've used =parts Suze/Averna/Cointreau with shake or 2 of Agostura orange for Amer Picon. I bumped up to 1.5oz of rye and sweet vermouth, .5oz Amer Picon sub,.33oz Benedictine PLUS expressed lemon oil (essential). KILLER sipper! A new fav!

Great paloma/margarita drink! Thought I'd tried most varients. Will try with .25 65 brix next time, or a shake or 2 of grapefruit bitters. I love this drink as is though!! I suspect that Simon has a bit of a sweetooth, as I do.

Headed to the beach on Monday... will probably take several ingredients I don't keep in my owner's closet & drink a bunch of these guys!

Just the right amount of sweet and the rye keeps it from being cloying. Very smooth. Love this drink!!

Drinking one at present, Katie... spot on assessment!

(But I love rye sippers that demand small sips pulled over the taste buds. They do slow my imbibing... a good thing!

Cheers!

Many thanks, Lynette. I'll add a Kentucky Colonel and Monte Carlos to Difford's Guide as soon as we've been able to photograph. In the meantime, I've added notes under variation. Do you know the names of any of the other variations based on other spirits?

Kudos, Simon!... you are THE most dialed--in site owner/administrator on the internet!

If someone disagrees, please tell us who supersedes & how!

(Crickets)

Case closed!

Outstanding indeed. I Just got a bottle of Hamilton 86 Demerara based on your advice to another discerning drinker re black rum a while back. Did not disappoint to say the least. If I might ask what do you recommend for a light charcoal filtered rum?

I've used Don Q Cristal & Cruzan light. Both are great for cocktails.

This is...strange, but I like it. I've not been a fan of spirit-forward drinks in general and especially so with whiskey ones (manhattan, black manhattan, of, etc) but this...is really quite nice. the bitterness plays well into the spice. I've been really getting into amari and this has really made me want to try out the stirred amari drinks more.

I do not love love whiskey like I do tequilla, gin & rums. But I do like that I can make these complex, very flavorful boozy drinks (rye ones in particular) as slow sippers... sometimes lasting 30-40 minutes of tiny sips. Freezer chilled serving glass is requisite, in lieu of ice.

I love the complex New Orleans rye cocktails in particular: Vieux Carré, Sazerac, Creole etc. BTW, expressed citrus oils are essential before sipping these great/tasty whiskey drinks!

Cool rye tiki... will make this again! Floated the Angostura for presentation & it calmed the sweetness of the orgeat & 2 liqueurs after I stirred it in.

Really tasty if you love rum. I used 1.5 Appleton Estate + .5 Q151 (for rum flavor smack)& .5 sweet vermouth +.25 Campari for Punt E Mes as I keep only sweet & dry vermouths so as to not let wine based mixers expire.

Will try with Bacardi 8, Zacapa, & Brugal. Need to find some Don Q 7.

Tasty rum sipper!

Really enjoyed this recipe. Used Van Gogh double espresso uu but may cut a bit next time.

I've got to source some navy rum but made this with Smith & Cross 114 & loved it. The water took the edge off the 114, but not the rum flavor. I may even float .25oz Q151 on the next one

I’m going to say something heretical. But mint is very expensive here. (I just need to plant some) but when I can’t get it, mint bitters or syrup can give similar flavor. My southern card is going to get taken away.

It's like a weed if you'll borrow a couple of plants with roots & stick them in nice soil. It spreads and comes back each year. Julips, mojitos, tikis, bourbon smashes etc require fresh FREE spearmint.

For us this was pleasant enough, if a bit one-dimensional. Things got a bit more interesting when we added a dash or two of grapefruit bitters.

Grapefruit bitters can really alter a flavor profile. 1-2 drops tone down sweetness in drinks using citrus... or simply a drink that would otherwise be cloyingly sweet. Absolutely imperative in a favorite of mine... https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/36772/walthalls-white-negroni

Tried this again prompted by recent email from Difford's Guide revisiting Simon's selection of the 20 best Maraschino Liqueur cocktails. I rated this excellent (5) the first time last year but made a note to try with upping the Bourbon which I did to 1oz. I will be changing rating to 5+!

Just curious...are you using rye or low/no rye bourbon?

Great cocktail...tasty, complex, bittersweet. Try this with a drop of grapefruit bitters.

Killer bourbon cocktail! I don't love whiskey as others do, but make bourbon or rye drinks as slowsippers. This has the "sour"essence mellowed by 65brix sugar.

This will be a new favorite to go with my N.O. rye sippers, the Vieux Carré at the front of that list.

Really pleased to see this included here - a fantastic drink. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of Fernet Branca but this combination is the best kind of alchemy. Personally I’d put a little less sugar but that’s just my palate.

Already noted: I'm gonna try with 1/1 simple next time.

This guy is so tasty that I had to force myself to sip/taste/savor.

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 🧡.

https://www.diffordsguide.com/forum/jXWgDE/rbj6Qr

Crazily delicious. My favourite Mezcal cocktail by far. It's simultaneously simple and complex. Bright citrus from both lime and the orange/grapefruit from the aperitif (I did use Select Aperitif cut with simple syrup), herbal honeyed sweetness from the Yellow Chartreuse, adorned by smoke, earth and even a very slight meatiness from the Mezcal (I used Del Maguey San Luis del Rio).

If you're interested...
https://www.diffordsguide.com/producer/1267/del-maguey-single-village-mezcals/San-Baltazar-Chichicapam
Simon's site is full of great into!

Crisp and delicious. Almost too easy to drink. One of my favorites!

Complex, tart & rich! I try treat as a sipper in order to savor the complexity, but it doesn't last very long regardless.

1oz Bombay gin, .75oz Benedictine D.O.M, .75oz Génépy, .5oz lemon juice, 2 drops saline (will do 1 drop next time... almost salty).

Killer cocktail! I've made equal parts version multiple times, but this slight adjustment will be my go-to version.