Love is in the air and cocktails are on your lips

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.  And whether you are going out with your special someone or having a romantic night in, there is always room for a special cocktail or treat to accentuate the night.  And we have some delicious recipes to help spice up your night.

Tequila

The Enigma

Ingredients:

• 2oz Gran Coramino Cristalino
• .5oz Averna
• .5oz Cherry Agave
• 1oz lemon
• 2 Dashes Cherry Bark Vanilla Bitters

Instructions: Chill coupe by placing in the freezer 20 minutes before you prepare. Create the Cherry agave by whisking a half a cup of cherry juice and a half a cup of agave until mixed. Combine all ingredients in a shaker, then add ice and shake for 6-8 seconds. Double strain “up” (no ice) into the chilled coupe. Garnish with a cherry

 

The Lobos 1707 Mexican Mezcal Hot Chocolate

Ingredients:

• Lobos 1707 Mezcal
• 2 cups 2% milk
• Mexican Cinnamon Chocolate
• 4tbsp Brown Sugar
• 4tbsp Almond Meal
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cinnamon Sick.

Instructions: Chop or crumble chocolate into small pieces.  Combine milk, chocolate, brown sugar, almond meal, cinnamon and vanilla extract in a saucepan over low heat.  Stir until sugar and chocolate are mixed. Remove pan from heat and add liquors, begin to beat to a froth.  Pour into ceramic mug. Garnish with cinnamon powder, whip cream (optional) and a cinnamon stick.

 

Mango Margarita

Ingredients:

• 5oz Graciasa Dios Mango Mezcal
• 5oz Bauchant Orange Liqueur
• 75oz lime juice
• 25oz lemon juice
• 5oz agave syrup

Instructions: Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain over fresh ice into a double rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

 

The Jalapeno Avocado Margarita

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. Tequila Bribón Blanco
• 2 oz. Agave nectar (cut 50/50 with water)
• 2 oz. Fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 avocado, peeled and mashed
• 2 slices jalapeño
• Lime wheels, for garnish

Instructions: Fill two rocks glasses with ice. Place ripe avocado, and jalapeno slices in a cocktail shaker. Muddle ingredients until they’re thoroughly mashed. Add the remaining ingredients to the cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into the two rocks glasses. Garnish with the remaining lime wheels.

 

Hibiscus Agua Fresca

Ingredients: 

• 2 oz Cenote Blanco
• 4 oz Hibiscus tea
• 5 oz Lime Juice
• Sugar Syrup to taste

Method:  Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake to combine and strain into glass. Garnish with lime round/wedge and mint.

 

Lady Love

Ingredients: 

• 25 oz Tequila Bribón Blanco
• 5 oz Bauchant Orange Liqueur
• 1 oz cranberry juice
• 75 oz lime juice
• 5 oz simple syrup
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Top with sparkling Rosé

Method: Combine all ingredients into a shaker. Add ice to vessel and shake. Pour into glass and garnish with lime round/wedge.

 

Pomegranate Margarita (Serves 8-10)

Ingredients:

• 2 1⁄4 Cups Teremana Blanco
• 9 oz Pomegranate Juice
• 6 3⁄4 oz Lime Juice
• 4 1⁄2 oz Agave Nectar

Glassware: Rocks

Method: Combine all ingredients in a large pitcher with ice. Pour into rocks glasses with fresh ice and garnish with a lime wheel.

• 2 oz Codigo Rosa

• 1 oz Lime Juice
• 0.75 oz Simple Syrup
• 3 Raspberries (muddled)

• Raspberry Garnish

 

Nosotros Tequila Reposado

Aged in white oak barrels for added softness, Nosotros’ Reposado is aged three months longer than most to cut sharp flavors, mellow the palate, and promote a soft finish. After 11 months, this reposado emotes a butterscotch aroma finished by a balanced honey-cinnamon twist.

 

Vodka

Bella Fragola

Ingredients: 

• 75 oz Bottega Fior di Latte
• 5 oz vodka
• 5 oz creme de cacao
• 1 oz strawberry syrup

Method:  Combine all ingredients in shaker with ice. Shake until shaker tin is frosted. In a coupe glass, add a swirl of chocolate syrup at the base. Fine strain the mixture from shaker into the glass. Garnish with fresh strawberry slice.

 

Disaronno Pink Velvet

Ingredients:

• 5 oz Disaronno Velvet
• 5 oz Disaronno Originale
• 5 oz Red Bitter
• Pinch of Sea Salt

Method: Add all ingredients into a rocks glass and stir. 

 

Another new release is with Absolut Vodka.  Absolut has recently partnered with pop culture personalities Becca Tilley & Tanya Rad to release a limited-edition “Cran in a Can” Galentine’s Day cocktail kit (SRP: $45.99) that provides best friends with the essentials for a perfect night-in.

Available to order now through February 15, the kit comes complete with four (4) cans of Absolut & Ocean Spray® Vodka Cranberry Ready-to-Drink, reusable disco straws, two (2) limited edition Absolut x Ocean Spray Corkcicle Koozies, and a gift card to order takeout or snacks.

 

Purity Mediterranean Citrus Spritz 34 Flavored Vodka

The elegant packaging and bottling of this spirit, which mimics a pink, rough-cut diamond, is gift-ready for Valentine’s Day. Purity combines grapefruit, bergamot, orange with other organic botanicals – all natural, with no artificial flavors or sweeteners – and slow-distills it 34 times to achieve extraordinary smoothness.

 

Rum

Diplomático Reserva Romance

Ingredients

• 1 oz. ReservaExclusiva
• 5 oz. Ruby Port
• .5 oz. lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon Moscovado sugar
• ½ teaspoon Grenadine

Directions: Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

 

Mantuano Punch

Ingredients

• 20 oz. DiplomáticoMantuano
• 17 oz. chilled green tea
• 15 orange peels
• 1g strips of saffron
• Garnish with Maraschino cherries

Directions: Add all ingredients to the punch bowl with ice for a bit of dilution, stir with a spoon and garnish with Maraschino cherries.   

 

Whiskey

Chocolate Pomegranate Manhattan

Ingredients:

• 1 oz bourbon whiskey
• 25 oz Ballotin Original Chocolate Whiskey
• 75 oz pomegranate juice
• 12 drops Bittermen’s Xocolotl mole bitters
• 16 drops Old Forester smoked cinnamon bitters
• Garnish: melted chocolate rim on coupe glass, fresh arils

Method: Combine whiskey, Ballotin Chocolate Whiskey, pomegranate juice, and bitters in a shaker filled with ice. Shake for 10 to 15 seconds and strain into a coupe glass with a chocolate rim. Garnish with a chocolate square and arils.

  

Rose Royale

Ingredients

• 1 ½ parts The Glenlivet 12 Year Old infused with rose tea
• ¾ parts honey syrup
• ¾ parts lemon juice
• 2 parts Mumm Napa Sparkling Brut Rose
• Shake and serve into a short goblet or stemmed rocks glass. Garnish with edible rose petals.

Method:  Take 8 oz of The Glenlivet 12 Year Old.  Mix with 1 ½ tablespoons of rose tea.  Mix in a non-reactive container. Set for 2-4 hours. Fine strain.

 

Bushmills Irish Coffee

Ingredients:

• 50ml Bushmills Black Bush
• 1 tsp demerara sugar
• 150ml black coffee
• Lightly whipped fresh cream
• Coffee beans to garnish

Method: Add all of the ingredients to an Irish coffee glass and stir, leaving space at the top for the fresh cream.  Slowly pour the cream on top and garnish with coffee beans.  Top tip – to get the cream just right, turn a spoon upside down and place the tip of the spoon inside the coffee glass.  Pour the cream over the spoon

 

Bourbon Bramble

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 parts Basil Hayden® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 3/4 part fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 part blackberry liqueur
• 4 blackberries
• 5 fresh basil leaves

Method: Combine basil and blackberries in a cocktail shaker and gently muddle.  Add rest of cocktail ingredients to shaker with ice. Shake well. Strain into a glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a basil leaf and fresh blackberries.

 

Scarlet Heart Cocktail

Ingredients:

• 1.75 oz LeGrand Whiskey
• .5 oz Cherry Heering liqueur
• .5oz Egg White
• .5oz Blackberry puree
• 3/4oz Lemon Juice
• 1oz Lychee juice
• .5 Demerera Simple Syrup
• Gold Flakes dusted on our Berry garnish 

Directions: Add all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir the mixture in the ice to chill it . Strain the cocktail out of the mixing glass into a shaker. Dry shake the cocktail very vigorously to make sure it gets that nice foam top (no ice inside shaker just liquids) . Pour cocktail into coupe glassware over ice cube. Dust Berry Garnish with gold flakes. Lay garnish over an ice cube

 

Glenmorangie The Lasanta 12YO

Matured in both Bourbon and Sherry casks for 12 years, Glenmorangie Lasanta is a mouth-watering whisky with rich spiciness and elegant sweetness. Warm spices mingle on the nose and sherry-flavored sultanas, orange segments, walnuts and butterscotch combine on the palate to create a complex warmth and a great depth of flavor.

 

Glenmoranige Quinta Ruban 14YO

This whisky spotlights an array of wintry flavor combinations – walnut and black pepper, mandarin orange and melted marshmallow, dark chocolate and peppermint. Like stepping into a chocolate-minty-orange unknown, the journey is as delicious as the destination

 

Laws Four Grain Bourbon Heritage corn and heirloom wheat, barley and rye from family-owned farms in Colorado shine in this bourbon with soulful complexity. After three years in charred oak barrels, influenced by Denver’s high-altitude climate, an entirely novel bourbon unfolds with flavors of orange peel, cinnamon, vanilla custard, sweet tobacco and spice with a rich, dry finish.

 

BHAKTA Spirits, the world’s preeminent House of Vintages, debuted its new flagship spirit, BHAKTA 1928 (SRP $69). A boundary-breaking blend of straight rye whiskey, XO Calvados, and ultra-aged Armagnac named in honor of the most ancient vintage contained in each bottle, BHAKTA 1928 unifies America’s finest rye with France’s two most exquisite brandies.

 

Building from a bold base of 2018 vintage American straight rye whiskey (60%), the blend is then enriched with XO Calvados (30%) — adding deep age and complex layers of rich, juicy fruit. But it’s the final fortification of ancient Armagnac from the über-rare 1928, 1941, 1962, 1973, and 1996 vintages (10%) which transport BHAKTA 1928 into unprecedented territory.

 

Gin

For Valentine’s Day, Hendrick’s Gin has joined imaginations with Wiederhoeft to enhance the “ooh la la” factor of your cocktail necessities by introducing “Gintimates,” the world’s first and only collection of cocktail intimates.

Curiously curated to be the perfect match for all Valentine’s Day celebrations and the most unusual bar cart staple, the Wiederhoeft-designed capsule collection includes three alluring and delicately handmade pieces:

• Bottle Corset: A sheer and luxurious number to savor the seductive beauty of the Hendrick’s bottle that embellishes your bar cart.
• Pinky Garter: To maintain sophistication as you toast to any manner of delights, this piece will accentuate your daintiest finger and remind you to keep your pinky up.
• Cocktail Garnish Chain: An elegant rose not for your vase, but for your most cherished cocktail glass. Pro tip – this accessory is particularly enticing alongside a cucumber garnish.

 

Gin

French Blonde

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 0.75 oz St-Germain Elderflower Liqueur
• 0.5 oz Lillet Blanc Aperitif
• 1.5 oz fresh strained grapefruit juice
• 1 dash lemon bitters

Method: shake

Glass: coupe

Garnish: Grapefruit twist (optional)

 

Wine

 

For a cozy night in, discover the award-winning red Silk & Spice Red Blend With intense aromas of blackberries and ripe plum, and notes of spices including vanilla, black pepper, and pink peppercorn, Silk & Spice might just be the only silk and spice you need this Valentine’s Day 😉

Heading out for a BYOB date night? Grab a bottle of Casa Ferreirinha’s Papa Figos. Elegant and light, yet modern and complex with tasting notes of chocolate and cocoa – forget the actual (boring!) box of chocolates – this wine is IT!

Want to end the evening with something sweet? A glass of Sandeman Founders Reserve Ruby Port on the rocks makes for the perfect nightcap – forget the elaborate Valentine’s Day concoction; go for simple!

 

Aperitivo

The Amante 1530 Spritz

Ingredients:

• 3 parts D.O.C.G. Prosecco
• 2 parts Amante 1530
• 1 part high-quality soda water

Instructions: Gently combine over ice in a tall, clear glass.  Add a squeeze of Amalfi lemon.  Drop it in.

 

Campi Cooler

Ingredients:

• 1 1⁄2 oz Amante 1530
• 1 oz Italian Dry Vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
• 1⁄2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 oz simple syrup
• 2 bar spoon organic Italian balsamic vinegar (Kirkland)
• 2 dash Angostura bitters
• 3 oz soda water

Instructions: Combine all ingredients except the soda water in an ice-filled collins glass and stir well. Add the soda water and gently lift the spoon out to incorporate. Garnish with a lemon half-moon and Luxardo cherry flag.

 

Sweet Treats

5^th-generation pastry chef Nicola Olivieri gives the traditional recipe an amorous twist: crafted with Tahitian Bourbon vanilla beans, Italian wheat flours, raw cane sugar, and Italian acacia honey, the decadent cake is then studded with dark chocolate chunks and candied strawberries.

Perfect for pampering your special someone, Olivieri 1882’s San Valentino Panettone comes in a custom-designed Valentine’s Day packaging with a bespoke love letter option. $54.90, shipping included, ushers the panettone fresh from Italy, arriving at all U.S. doorsteps in less than 48 hours. Orders can be placed here. The panettone is also available on Goldbelly. 

 

 

Woodford Reserve announces partnership with award-winning gourmet chocolate brand Compartés! Together they have created a limited-edition, four-piece chocolate collection inspired by Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Bourbon.

Exciting things about this new collaboration include:

• Compartés chocolatier Jonathan Grahm teamed up with Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Elizabeth McCall to create unique chocolate designed to pair seamlessly with Double Oaked

• The four unique flavors are Butterscotch, Pear Nutmeg, Oak Smoked Salt Caramel and Maple Pecan

• Exclusive bundle featuring a 750ml of Woodford Reserve Double Oaked and the chocolates available for $87.94 on ReserveBar HERE. 

 

Gifts

Introducing the LOUIS XIII x LaQuan Smith Collection

• The LOUIS XIII x LaQuan Smith Collection features two bespoke accessories, optimally designed and crafted with the utmost attention to detail, to bring the opulence of LaQuan Smith’s signature style to each LOUIS XIII Cognac tasting experience.
• The DROP Chain Pouch is Crafted to make a statement, a chain pouch made of pure silver to hold THE DROP, ergonomically designed to be worn as a necklace or belt.
• The Boudoir Gloves are apair of opera-length gloves, crafted from sustainably sourced demure mesh with velvet detailing that graces the palm and interior forearm
• The LOUIS XIII x LaQuan Smith Collection is now available on us.louisxiii-cognac.com& laquansmith.com for pre-sale, while supplies last.
• Commercial availability for the collection, while supplies last, will begin on February 12^th, 2024 on us.louisxiii-cognac.com& laquansmith.com, with in-store availability exclusivity within the limited-edition LOUIS XIII Boutique at The Shops at Wynn Las Vegas until February 18^th, 2024.

 

Valentine’s Day Gifts

razr+

Give the gift of Y2K! Motorola’s latest iteration of the early aughts classic, razr+, comes in a heartstopping Viva Magenta pink! This pocket-sized fashion statement turns heads with its glossy finish and folds open to reveal a stunning display. Powered by a lightning-fast processor and trendy camera,  The razr+ effortlessly combine nostalgia and cutting-edge tech in a sleek flip phone design. Flip it, snap it, flaunt it – it’s not just a phone; it’s a lifestyle. Right now, you can get $300 dollars off your razr+ device when you purchase on Motorola.com.

 

Nike Variant

Step into the future of eyewear with the pink Nike Variant sunglasses – the perfect blend of style and performance that’s bound to turn heads faster than you can say “just do it.” Made with mismatched details and a chunky, rectangular frame, the Nike Variant perfectly combines your sporty attitude and bold streetwear aesthetic. Bonus: they’re made from at least 20% recycled content by weight! The Nike Variant isn’t here to just shield your eyes; it’s here to make a statement – bold, chic, and unapologetically cool.. It’s not just eyewear; it’s a street-style revolution.