Enjoy a little cocktail this Hallo-weekend.

Hallo-weekend if finally here! Whether you are dressing up and going out, hosting a costume party at home, and lying low and avoiding the ghouls, this is the best weekend to try out a new cocktail, spirit, and/or wine. And we have a few exciting recommendations for you.

Tequila

Pulparindo

Ingredients:

• 5oz Mi Campo Reposado
• 1/2oz Ancho Reyes Liqueur
• 1/2oz lime juice
• Jarritos Tamarindo soda 

Method: Shake, strain, and top with Jarritos Tamarindo soda

Beetle Juice

Ingredients:

• 5 oz Espolon Blanco tequila
• 75 oz Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
• 75 oz Orange Juice
• 5 oz Lime Juice
• 5 oz Beet Syrup

Method: Add all ingredients to tin and shake with ice. Strain into a double old-fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange half moon.

Añejo Old Fashioned

Instructions:

• 2 oz. Teremana Añejo
• 1 Bar Spoon Agave Nectar
• 2 Dashes of Desired Cocktail Bitters (Orange or Angostura)
• Glassware: Rocks Glass
• Garnish: Orange Peel

Method: Stir then strain into a rocks glass with ice and garnish with an orange peel. Serve one.

Añejo Date Old Fashioned

Instructions:

• 2 oz. Teremana Añejo
• ½ oz. Date Syrup
• 2 Dashes Black Walnut Bitters
• Glassware: Cocktail Glass
• Garnish: Orange Peel

Method: Stir all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Strain into a cocktail glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange peel nestled in glass and a date on a garnish stick. Serve one.

Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini

Instructions

• 2 oz. Teremana Reposado
• 1 oz. Espresso
• ½ oz. Coffee Liqueur
• ¼ oz. Pumpkin Spice Syrup
• Garnish: Pumpkin Spice Dust

Method: Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with pumpkin spice dusted on top.

Palominado

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Smokehead Tequila Cask Terminado
• 1 oz Fresh Grapefruit Juice
• 1/2 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Agave Syrup
• Top with Grapefruit Soda
• Crushed ice

Method: Add Smokehead Terminado, fresh grapefruit and lime juice and agave syrup to the shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Top with grapefruit soda.

Whiskey 

Clonakilty Witch’s Brew

Ingredients:

• 1.75oz Clonakilty Port Cask Whiskey
• .5oz Orange Juice
• Ginger Ale
• 1 slice of orange

Candy Corn Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• 5 oz Sorel
• 2 oz Skrewball Whiskey
• 1 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
• 75 oz Simple Syrup
• 1 Egg White

Method: Combine whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Shake until combined and foamy, about 10 seconds. Add ice and shake until chilled, about 10 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass and top with a liqueur.

The Smoked Old Fashioned

Ingredients:

• 5 oz of Devil’s Gate bourbon
• 5 oz of Grand Marnier
• 3 dashes of aromatic bitters
• Orange peel

Method: Add ingredients to mixing glass and stir. Smoke it with a chimney and add orange peel.

Eyeball Highball

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Bourbon
• .5 oz Lychee Juice
• 5 oz Q Ginger Ale
• 1 Lychee

Method: Build drink in highball glass and garnish with lychee eyeball. To make the lychee eyeball garnish, drain a can of lychees (reserve lychee juice for the recipe) and insert a blueberry into the hollowed out lychee.

And if you are someone who enjoys their spirits on the rocks, we have a great recommendation for you.

Chivas Regal is shaking up the Scotch whisky category this fall in the United States with the launch of Chivas XV  (SRP: $49.99). Aged for a minimum of 15 years in oak casks and selectively finished in French Cognac casks, the exciting new expression delivers a beautifully golden and velvety interpretation of the traditional Chivas house style.

Chivas XV was created by Chivas Regal’s Director of Blending, Sandy Hyslop and his expert blending team.  The style offers sweet aromas of marmalade, cinnamon and juicy sultanas that transform into a delicious medley of fruit flavors intermingled with butterscotch and caramel toffees, with a velvety finish thanks to the use of Cognac casks for the finish.

As a permanent part of the Chivas Regal range, the new blended Scotch delivers golden-hues that will turn Happy Hour into Golden Hour.

Another recommendation comes from Jos. A Magnus.  In 2007, the great-grandson of pre-Prohibition whiskey magnate Joseph Magnus discovered a carefully wrapped, unopened bottle of 122- year-old whiskey while sifting through family memorabilia, the very first bottle of Joseph A. Magnus whiskey ever made, dated May 1892.

Remarkable then and remarkable now, Jos. A. Magnus prides itself on iterating from a place of perfection, employing the same blending and finishing methods perfected more than 100 years ago and a flavor profile honed to perfection in 1892.

Joseph Magnus Bourbon (SRP – $99.99)

• A marriage of straight bourbon whiskey aged in white oak barrels and finished in Oloroso sherry, Pedro Ximénez sherry, and cognac casks.
• Rich deep flavors with notes of orange citrus, dried dark fruits, and vanilla

Murray Hill Club (SRP – $119)

• A true bourbon blend crafted using the same techniques JosephMagnus used to create this original pre-Prohibition spirit more than 100 years ago.
• Artfully marries 18- and 11-year-old bourbon with 9-year-old light whiskey to deliver notes of butterscotch, honey, toffee, autumnal baking spices, vanilla, and char, with a hint of black pepper that lingers through a softly spiced and toasted finish.

Cigar Blend Bourbon ($199.99 + (based on availability))

• Artfully blended to enjoy with a fine cigar.
• A combination of award-winning JosephMagnus Bourbon and 11- and 18-year-old whiskeys to assume bold, rich aromas of tobacco, spice, leather, vanilla, blanched almonds, and toffee. The Armagnac cask finish lends fruity notes of fig, prune, and dried apricot.

And our last recommendation comes from Woodford Reserve and their latest release, the Sonoma Triple Finish – part of the brand’s annual Master’s Collection series.

Highlights about this exciting new release include:

• Sonoma Triple Finish showcases a unique blend of Woodford Reserve that has been finished in Sonoma County Pinot Noir, Brandy, and former Bourbon barrels used to age red wine.
• The whiskey is a rich, fruity, vanilla and spice-forward expression of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Gin

Ascaroni 

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Engine
• 75 oz Italicus
• 75 oz Campari
• 25 oz Nixta Corn Liqueur
• Orange Peel

Method: Stir all the ingredients and pour into a rocks glass with one large ice cube and garnish with an orange peel

Frankenlime Collins

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Gin
• .25 oz Midori
• .5 oz Lime Juice
• 5 oz Q Spectacular Tonic
• 1 Lime Peel

Method: Shake all ingredients except the Q Spectacular Tonic and strain into a large glass mug. Top with chilled Q Spectacular Tonic Water and garnish with a lime peel.

Vodka

Tia Espresso Martini

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Vodka
• 1 oz Tia Maria Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 1 oz Freshly Brewed Espresso (or Cold Brew Concentrate)
• Garnish: 3 Coffee Beans

Method: Fill a martini glass with ice and set aside to chill. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake the ingredients together. Empty the martini glass of ice. Pour in the contents of the shaker using a strainer into the chilled martini glass. Garnish with three coffee beans.

White Velvet Espresso Martini 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Disaronno Velvet
• 1/2 oz Tia Maria Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
• 1/2 oz Vodka
• Garnish: Three Coffee Beans

Method: Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish three coffee beans.

Rum

Pumpkin Flip

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
• 5 oz Appleton Estate Rum 8 Years old
• 5 oz Cynar
• 5 oz Pumpkin Syrup*
• 1 Egg (whole)
• Garnish with grated nutmeg on top
  • *Pumpkin Syrup:
  • Bring to a boil:
  • 500g Demerara Sugar
  • 250g Pumpkin Purée
  • 250g Water
  • ¼ Teaspoon ground Allspice

Method: Shake all the ingredients with ice and strain into a 6 oz coupe glass.

Good Morning Sunshine

Ingredients:

• Sunshine Punch (SRP $24.95)
• Cold Brew Coffee
• Cinnamon Stick
• Orange Wheel

Method: Combine 1 part Sunshine Punch with 1 part Cold Brew Coffee over ice. Stir, garnish with cinnamon stick and orange wheel. Enjoy!

Spiced Pumpkin Punch

Ingredients:

• 5 oz Spiced Rum
• 1 oz Pumpkin Puree
• .5 oz Lime Juice
• 3 oz Pomegranate Juice
• 3 oz Orange Juice
• 4 oz Q Ginger Beer

Method: Shake all ingredients except the Q Ginger Beer and pour into an ice-filled glass. Then top with Q Ginger Beer and garnish with an orange slice. Recipe can be scaled for single serve or punch bowl if you keep the ratios consistent.

Wine

A new partnership piqued our interest recently and is perfect if you want to add a little spice to your life.

Droosh – a celebrated women-owned spice brand – and Silk & Spice–is on a joint mission to redefine and elevate culinary experiences with NEW wine-and-spice pairing kits!

Each wine-and-spice pairing kit includes four of Droosh’s enticing spice blends – Everyday Spice, Chaat Party Spice, Tikka Masala Spice, The Icon Spice – that can be perfectly paired with each of Silk & Spice’s wine blends, Red Blend, White Blend, Silk Route, and Spice Road. Also in the kit is a recipe guide so you can create flavorful meals that pair beautifully with Silk & Spice wines at home. This innovative pairing guide and sumptuous spices are sure to elevate any occasion, awaken the senses, and tell a story of taste that transcends borders.

You’ll want to get your hands on these fully flavored kits, see HERE!

For the champagne lover, Perrier-Jouët has several offerings that make the perfect chic holiday gift.

• Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque Brut 2013 (SRP $229) — a rare and elegant champagne that celebrates the art of vintage and the excellence of the Perrier-Jouët vineyard
• Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut (SRP $65.00) is a melting pot of aromas and flavors–a wonderfully rounded, generous champagne whose joie de vivre makes every moment more special

For the white wine lover, Brancott Estate Sauvignon Blanc (SRP $11.99) is a vibrant and affordable wine with a pale straw color with green highlights. The zesty aromas jump from the glass, with highlights of pink grapefruit, melon and gooseberry