Loudspeaker

This cocktail is designed to damage you. It is shockingly tart, like many brandy-heavy drinks are. It is also super strong. In fact it is like having two sour cocktails in one glass. You'll need a big cocktail glass to make all of this fit.

Of course a brandy cocktail is better if you use cognac, and this case is no exception. The important thing, I feel, is to use an equally smooth gin. That means avoid London dry gins with all of that heavy juniper. An aged gin, to go with aged brandy will be even better. Filibuster fits the bill. They use only four botanicals and far less juniper than London dry style gins. It is also aged in oak so it is very soft and round. Nothing sticks out, which is a good thing here.

• 2 oz. brandy (Courviosier used)
• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Filibuster Dual Cask used)
• 1/2 oz. triple sec (Cointreau used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Soul Kiss

I know I've done this drink before. It's a great one, the cocktail that I bought my first bottle of Dubonnet Rouge just to do. I remember being excited to try it. But now when I search for it on my website, it is not there. All the other Dubonnet drinks I've done are there, but not this one. I guess I'll just have to have it again. Sigh!

Soul Kiss is another word for French kiss. It is the title of a lesser-known Olivia Newton John song, by the way, and I think of it as a French cocktail in the Kiss series with the French Kiss, another bourbon drink, and the Kiss Me Quick.

I've got better ingredients this time around. Fresh squeezed orange juice helps a lot. So does Filibuster dual cask bourbon aged in oak and French sauvignon blanc casks. Then the spicy notes of Rivata dry vermouth are really interesting. This drink is foremost a bourbon drink, but Dubonnet Rouge gives it this bright red color and an herbal and sweet flavor that is hard to miss.

• 2 oz. bourbon (Filibuster dual cask used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Rivata used)
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet Rouge

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

(Whiskey) Milk Punch / Gin Milk Punch

Today I wanted to tackle several milk punch recipes at once. They are all very similar in that they require sugar, milk, nutmeg and a spirit. Strangely the New York Bartender's Guide differentiates between a classic milk punch and a whiskey milk punch with separate titles and measurements (parts as opposed to ounces) but the recipes are pretty much the same.

The Whiskey Milk Punch and Milk Punch both call for three ounces of blended whiskey. Now I have rye and bourbon blends, but I think that when a recipe calls for blended whiskey, it means Irish or Canadian whiskey. Why? The smoothness makes it less of a flavor factor. Otherwise you can make a Bourbon Milk Punch (This one oddly served neat in an Old Fashioned glass) with that flavor profile. These drinks are subtler than that.

Then there's the Gin Milk Punch. I know what you're thinking. Why would anyone like milk and gin? Actually I've found this combination to be great in other dessert drinks, and actually the nutmeg helps with the spice profile a lot. It's less important that gin has spicy flavors and more noticeable that this is a holiday drink with hints of juniper.

That said, pick your gin carefully. I prefer a prohibition style gin over dry gin for dessert drinks. They have funky sweet notes that go well with creaminess. Filibuster Gin (Not Available outside the distillery) is aged in two barrels and flavored with only four botanicals. It is close to whiskey in that way and makes a great milk punch.

(Whiskey) Milk Punch

• 3 oz. blended whiskey (Tullimore Dew used)
• 8 oz. milk
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Dust with nutmeg.

Gin Milk Punch

• 3 oz. gin (Filibuster dual cask used) 
• 8 oz. milk
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• freshly grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except nutmeg in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass . Dust with nutmeg.

French Kiss

Filibuster dual cask bourbon was a fitting choice for this sweet bourbon cocktail. This bourbon is finished in French wine casks to soften the spice of the Virginia spirit. I was glad that there wasn't much lemon juice in the cocktail made me excited to try this one. Alas, I was disappointed by how sweet it was.

Part of the problem was that the amount of apricot brandy was overkill. Use a half ounce. Then two tsp. of grenadine can impart the color and sweetness without overdoing it.

• 2 oz. bourbon (Filibuster dual cask used)
• 1 oz. apricot brandy (1/2 oz. recommended
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.