The recipe in my cocktail a day calendar for this weekend is a Preakness Cocktail; a couple weeks ago it had a Churchill Downs Cocktail. Today's is Canadian whiskey, a little sweet vermouth, a little Benedictine. The Churchill one was a little less inventive: bourbon, brandy, triple sec, topped with ginger ale.
I like Benedictine, and it gives this drink a good sweet but spiky edge to it. I even ran a lemon twist around the edge of the glass like it said to - unusual for me.
I read up on Canadian Club, and it's pretty interesting. Canadian blended whiskeys are lighter than U.S. whiskeys, and a mix of corn, barley, and rye. They have to be aged 3 years or longer. Hiram Walker of, well, Hiram Walker fame started Canadian Club here in the U.S., but with his finger to the wind and seeing it was a dry wind that bode no good, he moved his company to Canada. In 16 Blocks (my favorite Bruce Willis movie), Willis's character has a thing for Canadian Club (and even drops and breaks a bottle, as I recall, but to save someone's life, so I suppose that was worth it). Canadian Club is aged 6 years.
Just to experiment, I made it again but with Drambuie. Not as spiky, sweet but in a good way too, not too bad. Probably a nice after-dinner drink. I'm feeling a nice fuzziness on the back of my throat.
I've begun getting press releases from media agencies for restaurant openings, for which I thank you guys (and ladies). It's nice to be noticed and taken seriously. I received one today for a new Lettuce Entertain You restaurant in Chicago called L2O (the 2's a subscript, like in H2O). This one specializes in seafood and sounds like it will be great. The decor should be fab. They also have a nice selection of sakes available in half bottles and by the glass. (The wine list frankly didn't pique my interest, but I'm not much into French wines.) I used to eat at LEY restaurants when I lived in Chicago, and they're a lot of fun. My sister still goes to Ed's when she takes travel groups up there. If you get to Chicago, try out L2O, on the rocks.
Preakness Browns
Sunday, May 18, 2008 at 7:03 PM Posted by David