Category — Cognac

On rare occasions Christie’s auction house does something that makes me pay attention, like hock pricey bottles of hooch.  On November 14, Christie’s will auction off upwards of $2 million worth of wines and spirits, including select bottles of whiskey, cognac, armagnac and champagne, plus the very rare 1964 Bowmore Trilogy.

The Black, White and Gold Bowmore whiskies were aged below sea level at Bowmore’s Islay distillery for 42, 43 and 44 years, respectively. For their trouble, the trio of bottles is predicted to sell for up to $24,000.

Other highlights include a 100 year old armagnac from Baron de Sigognac, estimated at up to $3,000, and a ceramic demijohn of British Imperial Rum sourced from the last remaining stores of the Royal Navy, estimated to go for $4,500 – $6,000.

Opportunities to procure such fine spirits are scarce, so isn’t it time to cash in your kid’s college fund and invest in your future.

[via Duncan Quinn]

The Cable Car cocktail is a variation of the classic Sidecar.  But while the Sidecar dates back to World War I, the Cable Car is a recent creation, as far as drinks go, and was created in 1996 by Tony Abou-Ganim as a signature cocktail for the Starlight Room, a cocktail lounge in San Francisco’s Sir Francis Drake Hotel.

The Sidecar uses cognac as its base spirit, while the Cable Car opts for spiced rum, namely, Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum.  The Sidecar also calls for Cointreau, and the Cable Car calls for orange Curacao.  I’ve crafted this drink with both orange liqueurs, and was pleased with the results of each, but in general I stick with Tony’s original recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
3/4 ounce orange Curacao
1 1/2 ounces fresh lemon sour (to create lemon sour, mix two parts fresh lemon juice with one part simple syrup)

Directions:

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cinnamon sugar rimmed cocktail glass.  Garnish with an orange spiral.

The Vieux Carré was born sometime prior to 1937 in New Orleans at what would later become the Carousel Bar at the Monteleone Hotel.  According to Ted Haigh’s Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails, the cocktail was named for the old French term for New Orleans’s French Quarter—le Vieux Carré—which means “The Old Square.”

Ingredients:

1 ounce rye whiskey
1 ounce cognac
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 teaspoon Benedictine
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

Directions:

Shake all ingredients with ice, then strain onto fresh ice in a rocks glass.  Garnish with a twist of lemon.

The sidecar is one of six basic drinks listed in David Embury’s The  Fine Art of Mixing Drinks.

Comprised of just cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice, the proportions of each ingredient have changed with time. The original drink is cited as having contained equal parts of all three components, which yields a sweeter drink than the one listed below, while David Embury recommends eight parts cognac, two parts Cointreau and one part lemon juice, creating a strong, less sweet cocktail.

However you prefer to make it, this classic cocktail is a refreshing drink that has endured the test of time. Though its origin is debated, it’s believed to have been first created around the end of World War I, perhaps in London but more likely in Paris. But regardless of its origin, it became a signature drink in Paris and was supposedly a favorite of Hemingway’s post-war crowd of American expatriates in the 1920s. Speaking of Paris, if you’re ever in the city and you don’t like money, visit the Ritz Paris, where you can plunk down $515 for a sidecar made with the extremely rare 1865 Ritz Reserve cognac.

Ingredients:

1 ½ ounces cognac
¾ ounce Cointreau
¾ ounce lemon juice

Directions:

Rub rim of chilled cocktail glass with lemon juice and dip rim in sugar. Shake all ingredients with cracked ice and then strain into cocktail glass.