Well, it’s New Year’s Eve, the last day of 2012. Am I happy to see it go? Sure. But in many ways it was better for me than 2011. It begun optimistically, since I landed a job I’m happy with. Didn’t end as well as I’d like, with four more years of hope and change on the horizon, and they are looking to be tough years. I am not looking forward to 2013. It’s going to be a hell of a fight, and I’m not sure our rights are truly going to be safe for the next four years.
I could do a year in review, or something like that, but really, I’d prefer to talk about booze. What’s your favorite New Year’s drink? I am not much for mixed drinks. If it’s not beer or wine, it’s usually whisky. My favorite is scotch, but I can’t abide by bad scotch, so it usually has to be the good stuff. That means I don’t get it often. For Christmas I got a good blended scotch. I am a fan of Islay single malts like Caol Ila or Laphroaig, but a lot of people discount blended scotches. As long as the whisky going into the blend is good, it’ll be good, and blended scotches also save money.
Bitter is a fan of the Manhattan, and I enjoy that drink as well. It is a much better drink made with rye whisky than bourbon whisky, and definitely better than when made with Canadian whisky. A lot of mixed drinks will taste better with rye than with bourbon. Rye whisky used to be the dominant American whisky before prohibition, and is only now starting to come back.
Traditional for the New Year is champagne, and we do have a bottle. But this is the only time a year I will buy champagne. Generally speaking, I despise it. But it is traditional, and I will drink it on traditional occasions. One of the worst home-brewing/home-winemaking disasters I ever had was making a mead from a champagne yeast. Ugh! Not a fan.
Whiskey I find horrible until it is masked in mixed drinks. Straight amaretto is wonderful.
For new years I get a bottle of sparkling asti and mix it with cranberry juice. Way better than champagne.
How many people realize that when they order a rye and ginger they will not get (usually) real rye whiskey? Once upon a time when you entered a saloon and ordered whiskey chances were good it was a real rye whisky you got. In the navy,the spirits of fermenti in the med locker was Old Overhalt rye. Rye whiskey is still with us but its a special order thing, these days……HNY…..
I’m a diet coke guy. Sometimes I step out for poweraid zero. Boring, but I’ve got too many alcoholics in the family and I’ve had a hell of time controlling my weight without alcohol. Besides it offers me the chance to bring up the “Your responsibility for Effective Alcohol Control” line to liberal social drinkers. :)
On the Whiskey front, I recommend the best Irish Whiskey on God’s green Earth: Tullamore Dew.
You won’t be disappointed.
I got a bottle of rye whiskey the other day, Old Overholt. It’s said to be what Doc Holliday drank. Made since 1810. It had quite a bit to say and I liked the taste of it.
Here’s Tex Ritter singing “Rye Whiskey”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2jyc820HBU
and the drunk version in “Song of the Gringo”, 1936:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVWTeXzgkJE
Bourbon Old Fashioned preferred, and the Makers Mark bar in Louisville makes one of the best. But, a Manhattan sure is easier.
Here’s one for everyone an old friend taught me:
Milky Way
Equal parts Kahlua, Bailey’s and butterscotch schnapps. Shake over ice, strain into glass.
It’s pretty dangerous. As in, yummy.
I have had an Old Fashioned at that bar, and it was indeed excellent.