enjoying some Buffalo Trace with a Partagas right now and gotta say it is DELICIOUS

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Smoke 'em if you got 'em

Personally, I have been drinking wine with smokes a lot lately. I have found that the 2005 Horton Norton is amazing with milder sticks, for instance... 5V Gold. If you can find any Norton grape wine, especially Horton, you won't regret it.

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SMOKE INTO OBLIVION CIGAR BLOG

My favorites:
Macallan 12yr(oh shut up...just try it:)
Eagle Rare
Stranahans Bourbon
Rare breed
1860 Pedro Ximinez(sherry...careful what you pair it with...pretty sweet)
Whiskers Blake Port
Elmer T Lee Bourbon
Zaya Rum.....magical with MOW Runination

And if you really want your ass kicked....Bookers Bourbon oer ice.....see ya in the mornin!

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It's Beer! Hooray Beer!

phobicsquirrel:

rob needs to weigh in on this, he's a liquor guru.

Thanks, Squirrel. Just noticed this post.

So far there have been some good suggestions, especially catering to the fact that you seem to enjoy sweeter types of alcohol over straight up. If that's the case, I'd suggest trying some classic cocktails with some of the booze that you're looking to get into. My theory is: buy top shelf and enjoy it more but a little less often if you don't have tons of cash to spare. When you're drinking booze straight or close to straight as in most classic cocktails, you can taste the quality.

That being said, try something like Eagle Rare in a manhattan or Ron Zacapa or even Pyrat XO in a cuban manhattan (2 parts bourbon, rye or rum for a cuban, one part sweet vermouth, a dash of angostura bitters and I'd add a teaspoon of marachino cherry juice to sweeten a bit). If you're looking to try cognac, try a sidecar mixed with a VSOP as I generally wouldn't recommend mixing an XO, mostly for cost reasons (1 part cognac, 1 part Grand Marnier and 1 part fresh squeezed lemon juice). For VSOP level, I like Hennessy, Hine, Remy, or Pierre Ferrand (PF doesn't have a VSOP, I believe it's just called Reserve or maybe Amber - it's around $40 a bottle in most places).

Scotch can be a tough one to get into if you tend to like sweeter stuff. Also try mixing with some different stuff if you can find it your way such as Chartreuse (a distillate of over 130 herbs and botanicals for the green stuff - less for the yellow - made by monks in the Swiss Alps), Agwa (made from Bolivian coca leaves), or Absinthe. I just recently mixed Chartreuse with B&B and a dash of bitters and some simple syrup for a great classic style cocktail. Good luck and check my review section as I've begun posting my alcohol reviews with my cigar reviews lately.

^ Thanks!! All the suggestions so far are great, and I'll defnitely be making my local liquor store very happy when I go back!!

If anyone else has any suggestions, I'm all ears :)

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Question, challenge, and always keep a fresh battery in your bullshit detector

xmacro:

Ok, so here's the deal - I don't like most scotch or whiskey due to it's harshness, but I still wanna get into it a bit. I've tried:

Wild Turkey 101 - Straight Bourbon whiskey
Bacardi Gold, puerto rican rum
Stock 84 Brandy
Johnny Walker, Black Label
Crown Royal Reserve
Jose Cuervo Especial
Bacardi Select
InverHouse Green Plaid, scotch whiskey
Glenlivet, single malt scotch whiskey

They're all "blah" to me - the only hard liquor I'm fond of is B&B or Yukon Jack

So any recommendations?

Sounds like you're a fan of the sweeter stuff. Have you tried Drambuie? I personally favor Glenfiddich, but when I have a sweet longing, about two shots Glenfiddich to one shot of Drambuie is pretty satisfactory. I think this is called a "Rusty Nail" Also, some of the Porters out there go quite well with a cigar. I know, let's just keep on trying 'till we get it right! Bound to be a good time.

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"It is incumbent upon every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle, which if acted on, would save one half the wars of the world" Thomas Jefferson

+1 for Drambuie, but in our case we like it straight. Since Drambuie is made from scotch, you get the scotch effect in a much smoother and sweeter package. My boys can't stand scotch, but they love Drambuie. If it's too sweet for you straight, you can always go with the Rusty Nail suggested above.

After a bit of searching myself I have found that nothing is better than Flor de Cana 12 year reserve with a stick.

Eagle Rare 10 on the rocks.

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MOW Badge: Honorable Service recipient 9/21/2010



Work called! They said if you dont come in on Friday, dont bother to come in on Monday! - Whoo hoo four day weekend!

Prunier Cognac Family Reserve - I remember it being smooth cognac, peppery hint...but also a hint of fruit as well...almost like apple. Good stuff!

Fourtotheflush:

Eagle Rare 10 on the rocks.

haha. it's like crack. And a good alternative to that uber-expensive scotch you like. Again, your welcome. It's one thing you can remember my by when I'm not longer working with ya. lmao

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There is no blender but Litto Gomez, and I wish I was his merchant.
MOW Badge w/ Silver Star - 7/4/10
Fav's and Wish List in Bio

While I know you are talking strictly about the hard stuff, I have always enjoyed sipping a shot of Grand Marnier. That first puff after the first sip is the stuff dreams are made of.

It's a similar sensation to drinking black coffee at the same time as eating a dessert.

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I prefer my happiness hand rolled and set on fire.
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I like Grand Marnier as a mixer and was curious about the Cinquantenaire when I saw it at a bar. Knowing it was orange infused cognac with sugar to make it a liqueur, I asked about it. The bartender that was serving us knew nothing but "people love it" but the other bartender insisted that it wasn't cognac but a liqueur. I think I paid about $26 for a shot and felt it tasted too much like orange cough syrup to justify that price. I may revisit it, but I wasn't too impressed. The Navan (vanilla infused cognac liqueur also made by the house of Grand Marnier) is really nice if you like vanilla, but you have to open it up with some ice or water.

I can only really enjoy Grand Marnier with a beer, after a big meal, or with a cigar. However, I DID throw in on some whiskey and sweet vermouth last night and made Makers Manhattans while my brother and I smoked pipes. Pretty good combination.

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__
I prefer my happiness hand rolled and set on fire.
http://www.chickenfriedcomedy.com
Check out my new comedy sketch "Inception Plunge":
http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/3EFBFFFF01C0C7330017013A4FA4/

That sounds good. I could see the orange and bourbon playing nicely. Maybe a French Manhattan with some decent Cognac instead of the Bourbon. Now I want a drink.