Preakness Browns

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.