Drink up to cool down
With summer heat coming to a peak, there is nothing better than drinking a refreshing cocktail to cool yourself down. This round-up we are showcasing some new releases as well as highlighting some of our favorite liquor brands, especially in celebration of National Scotch Day today.
We wanted to start by featuring some of our favorite Scotch drinks to celebrate National Scotch Day.
First, we have Benriach and The GlenDronach. Both scotches showcase the best of Scotland and are versatile enough to be served neat, on the rocks, or in a delicious cocktail of your choosing. Both Benriach and The GlenDronach feature two types of scotches respectively, each one being aged and contained differently which allows for different flavors to become more prominent during the distilling process.
- Benriach The Original Ten ($53.99), re-imagines the 1898 origins of Benriach with a fruit-laden complexity and smooth, rounded taste.
- Benriach The Twelve ($59.99), aged for twelve years in sherry, port, and bourbon casks, creating a spirit that balances richly sherried malt with added layers of fruit complexity.
- The GlenDronach Original Aged 12 Years ($60), epitomizes the historic distillery’s unyielding dedication to the mastery of sherry cask maturation, aging in Pedro Ximénez and Oloroso sherry casks for a smooth, soft flavor.
- The GlenDronach Allardice Aged 18 Years ($150), presents exquisite complexity, with dark treacle, allspice and walnut carrying on into the long, lingering finish, a fitting tribute to the distillery’s founder James Allardice.
You can find Benriach here and The GlenDronach here.
Next up is one of our favorite brands, Glenmorangie. And they are featuring some amazing cocktails that are made with either their Glenmorangie Original 10-Year-Old Malt Whisky or with their amazing X by Glenmorangie. The Original 10 Year Old Single Malt Whisky is known for the bursts of citrus, cream, and vanilla, all while being smooth on your palette. X by Glenmorangie is a new concoction we have tried that boasts notes of pear, vanilla, oranges, and more as if it were going from an orange Popsicle to a luscious creme brûlée.
And if you have either of these bottles, there are two amazing cocktails that you have to make in order to really capture the best notes from the whiskys.
- Orange Highball
Ingredients:
- 50 ml (2oz) Glenmorangie Original
- ½ an Orange
- 50 ml (2oz) Tonic water
- 50 ml (2 oz) Soda water
- Orange Wedges, to garnish
Preparation: Juice half an orange. Then fill a highball glass with ice cubes and thick wedges of orange. Finally, pour all your ingredients over the top, and prepare a suitably long toast!
- Glenmorangie X Passionfruit
Ingredients:
- 50ml (2oz) X by Glenmorangie
- 50ml (2oz) Passionfruit Soda
Preparation: Fill highball glass with crushed ice. Add X by Glenmorangie and passionfruit soda. Stir and garnish with half a passion fruit
On top of that, Glenmorangie Whisky is announcing their inaugural group of Mix Makers: designer Brandon Blackwood, pianist Chloe Flower, streetwear trendsetter Alani Figueroa, and R&B star Tone Stith – to help launch their newest whisky made for mixing – X by Glenmorangie.
And what is a round up without throwing in some tequila. Some new brands that we got to try were Cutwater Spirits Tequila, Tanteo Tequila, Flecha Azul Tequila, Tequila Corralejo, and Los Arango. All of these brands feature a unique heritage and is some of the most authentic and delicious tequila you will find out there. These tequilas, made from some of the finest agave, are perfect for any cocktail drink that you can imagine and conceive.
Cutwater Spirits Tequila is a San Diego based distillery known for making every type of spirit under the sun. Cutwater begins with 100% blue agave harvested from Jalisco and is slowly cooked and distilled to make some of the best tequila.
Tanteo Tequila is an 100% agave tequila distilled, infused, and bottled by hand in Juanacatlán, Mexico at the only distillery owned by its co-op of agave farmers. What makes Tanteo Tequila special is that is has a dedication to bring work to the people in Juanacatlán where roughly 80% of the Tanteo Tequila distillery’s workers are female, with a particular emphasis on hiring single mothers and widows. Crafted to make the perfect margarita, whether spicy or traditional, Tanteo’s current portfolio includes spicy Jalapeño, smokey Chipotle, extra spicy Habanero and higher proof Blanco.
Flecha Azul Tequila is also made in Jalisco, Mexico and is crafted from 100% estate-grown Blue Weber Agave. The five expressions of Flecha Azul’s ultra-premium tequila celebrate centuries of history, tradition, and heritage created more than 200 years ago and include Tequila Blanco, Tequila Reposado, Tequila Añejo, Tequila Añejo Cristalino, and Tequila Extra Añejo.
Tequila Corralejo is one of the few tequilas produced in Guanajuanto, Mexico. Made from only the finest agave, Corralejo Tequila’s flavor is rich, natural, and unsurpassed in quality and personality. Its line of authentic bottlings includes Corralejo Tequila Silver, Corralejo Tequila Reposado, Corralejo Tequila Añejo, and Corralejo Tequila 1821 Extra Añejo.
And last on the list of tequilas is Los Arango Tequila and is made from 100% Blue Weber Agave, harvested just steps away from the Hacienda Corralejo where it’s fired in clay ovens and fermented with a specialty yeast strain. It’s then double distilled, bottled in blown glass, and hand-finished with premium leather, metal, and wood accents all onsite at the Hacienda. Los Arango’s line of authentic offerings includes Blanco, Reposado, and Ańejo.
Lastly, we have a new brand called Fun Wine. This brand is the perfect low calorie alternative for the wine lovers out there. Fun Wine features some amazing flavors like peach passion moscato all the way to an interesting and delightful cappuccino chardonnay. Other flavors include coconut chardonnay, strawberry rose moscato, espresso cabernet, and some delicious sangria flavors as well. Fun Wine is the first brand ever to put a wine drink inside a 330 ml aluminum bottle too. You can find Fun Wine by going to the Fun Wine Finder Here.
