Today at Tales of the Cocktail Drambuie introduced a new expression – Drambuie 15. Drambuie 15 is made with a selection of 15-year-old Speyside malts. It’s a refined, drier expression that brings the liqueur’s whiskey notes to the forefront. According to the company – This is achieved by the careful selection of old Speyside malts with soft, complex fragrance and flavors to complement the aromas of the secret Drambuie recipe. The resulting drink is designed to appeal to malt whisky drinkers and is perfect for sipping and savoring either neat or over ice. "To reach the high standards required for Drambuie...

F. Paul Pacult is the publisher of Spirit Journal and a recognized expert in the field.  The man tastes eight liquors every morning—when he says his palate is at its best—and has reviewed thousands of spirits in his illustrious, booze-soaked career.  And at Tales of the Cocktail on Thursday, Pacult led a seminar on how to taste spirits. Before taking a whiff or sip from the six glasses in front of us, Pacult walked us through his tasting process, which includes the following rules: 1. Don't think too much, and let your senses talk to you. We all eat food, so we...

To prep for Wednesday’s start to Tales of the Cocktail, some people rest their livers, while others expedite their demise with some Rusty Nails.  I chose the latter. The Drambuie: Revisited, Revived & Remixed event at the  Roosevelt Hotel featured the classic Rusty Nail cocktail, plus four modern variations, live jazz and glitzy cocktail servers with big feather hats.  The four Rusty Nail cocktails were created by bartenders from Portland to Milwaukee to New York City, and each took the Rusty Nail base (Scotch and Drambuie) and added ingredients and flavors to form innovative variations, detailed below: Encrusted Nail – Chad Doll,...

Vodka enjoys the rare distinction of being the most consumed liquor in the world, while simultaneously being the liquor most detested by cocktail bloggers and booze snobs.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with the stuff.  It’s like chicken – unexciting but unintimidating. Vodka’s lack of flavor makes it the perfect addition to a cocktail, say some, while this lack of flavor imparts nothing to a drink, rendering it a worthless additive, say others. Then, of course, there are the myriad flavored and infused vodkas, ranging from espresso to mango to protein. Brilliant marketing ploy that makes vodka fun and accessible for...