My Cabinet
Since I've become of legal drinking age I've experimented with various liqeuers and alchoholic drinks, he's some reviews for those interested. Note: the little stars mean that the producer has a royal warrant. Secondly, most of these drinks are "moderately priced" meaning a small bottle (750ML for fortified wines, 375ML for other drinks) costs between $12 and $20, except for the beers which are of various prices.
Liquers
Disaronno Amaretto- I fell for the ads and bought a bottle of this Italian liqueur. I was surprised to find that it's not bad at all. It's a thick, sweet liqeuer with a number of subtle flavours but at first taste you can't help but taste black-cherry as a major component. It's moderately priced and quite a good drink to have on your shelf.
Gins
Beefeater's Gin - Not a very good gin, tastes too strongly of juniper for my taste
***Gordon's Dry Gin - An alright Gin in, you can still taste the juniper but it's not quite as overwhelming as in Beefeater.
***Tangernay Gin - The best gin of the moderate price range, unlike Beefeater's or Gordon's Dry it has a bit of a fruit taste to it without so much juniper.
Hendrick's Gin - Costs about $45 per bottle for an improvement in flavour that's noticeable but not so good that I'll be buying much of it. It has a much more complex flavour than the other gins with strange flavours like rose petals and cucumber which sounds horrendous but works out rather well.
Nota bene: if you are mixing a gin martini, don't try to be James Bond and ask for it "Shaken not stirred", James Bond drank Vodka Martinis which benefit from the shaking as opposed to Gin Martinis which are 'bruised' by shaking. If you do want to be more 'James Bond' when you're drinking, go to http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/007/index.html for a quick lesson.
Fortified Wines
***Sandeman Ruby Port - I've had a few ports, and while most were intolerable this one is quite good. It's a ruby port (made from red wine, unlike it's white-wine cousing "tawny" port) so it has a very warm and round taste.
Casa Dos Vinhos Madiera - The only Madiera I've tried, its very similar to port except with a much lighter flavour and tastes slightly more sour as if it were made from cheap wine. Not exceptionally good but worth a try if there is a bottle of it being poured. It's probably better if you drink it as a punch with ice and lots of citrus fruit, but that's far too much work for me.
***Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry - Not bad; very smooth and creamy. Much more distant from the traditional wine flavour than Port or Madiera, this drink goes much more deeply into the realm of liquer than it holds onto its roots as a wine.
Tequila
Tequila is a disgusting drink consumed mainly by people more interested in getting disgustingly drunk than having one or two pleasant social drinks; it was once very accurately described not as a drink but as "Man's foolishness in liquid form". I also have the feeling that anyone who actually drinks tequila voluntarily is so unconcerned with flavour that they haven't even considered reading this far into the reviews.
Cheers,
Liquers
Disaronno Amaretto- I fell for the ads and bought a bottle of this Italian liqueur. I was surprised to find that it's not bad at all. It's a thick, sweet liqeuer with a number of subtle flavours but at first taste you can't help but taste black-cherry as a major component. It's moderately priced and quite a good drink to have on your shelf.
Gins
Beefeater's Gin - Not a very good gin, tastes too strongly of juniper for my taste
***Gordon's Dry Gin - An alright Gin in, you can still taste the juniper but it's not quite as overwhelming as in Beefeater.
***Tangernay Gin - The best gin of the moderate price range, unlike Beefeater's or Gordon's Dry it has a bit of a fruit taste to it without so much juniper.
Hendrick's Gin - Costs about $45 per bottle for an improvement in flavour that's noticeable but not so good that I'll be buying much of it. It has a much more complex flavour than the other gins with strange flavours like rose petals and cucumber which sounds horrendous but works out rather well.
Nota bene: if you are mixing a gin martini, don't try to be James Bond and ask for it "Shaken not stirred", James Bond drank Vodka Martinis which benefit from the shaking as opposed to Gin Martinis which are 'bruised' by shaking. If you do want to be more 'James Bond' when you're drinking, go to http://home.earthlink.net/~atomic_rom/007/index.html for a quick lesson.
Fortified Wines
***Sandeman Ruby Port - I've had a few ports, and while most were intolerable this one is quite good. It's a ruby port (made from red wine, unlike it's white-wine cousing "tawny" port) so it has a very warm and round taste.
Casa Dos Vinhos Madiera - The only Madiera I've tried, its very similar to port except with a much lighter flavour and tastes slightly more sour as if it were made from cheap wine. Not exceptionally good but worth a try if there is a bottle of it being poured. It's probably better if you drink it as a punch with ice and lots of citrus fruit, but that's far too much work for me.
***Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry - Not bad; very smooth and creamy. Much more distant from the traditional wine flavour than Port or Madiera, this drink goes much more deeply into the realm of liquer than it holds onto its roots as a wine.
Tequila
Tequila is a disgusting drink consumed mainly by people more interested in getting disgustingly drunk than having one or two pleasant social drinks; it was once very accurately described not as a drink but as "Man's foolishness in liquid form". I also have the feeling that anyone who actually drinks tequila voluntarily is so unconcerned with flavour that they haven't even considered reading this far into the reviews.
Cheers,
posted by Owen Lewis | Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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