You’ve worked hard today, relentless in pursuit of your goals. You’ve had a relaxing evening out, with a decadent menu shared by an amazing company. Putting the stamp at the end of the day is imperative. The nightcap you choose can take the experience from satisfying to unforgettable.
If the evening was low-key and relaxing, spent in casual elegance accented with laughter; a stylish, small-batch, smooth-drinking glass of whiskey is the ticket. If you’re with the guys, select Tuthilltown Spirits Hudson Baby Bourbon. Created by the first legal whiskey distiller in New York since Prohibition, aged in specially-sized, small, American oak barrels; it has the mild, sweet, smooth vanilla and caramel tones necessary to ease one into the night.
Another excellent choice: Charbay Release II Hop Flavored Whiskey, aged in charred new American oak, toasted from its warm belly to its flavorful gator skin surface. If you’re sharing the evening with women, give them a sip worthy of wings by pouring a finger of Angel’s Envy. Coined for the term “angel’s share,” the amount of whiskey lost to evaporation in aging, it’s distilled magic in corn plus rye, aged six years in American white oak, then made settled into a divine sip in port casks for a long, smooth finish.
A mixed crowd will delight in Jefferson’s Presidential Select Bourbon Whiskey, descended from the same distillery as Van Winkle. If the toffee, fig, and vanilla of this 18-year-old, 94-proof sip don’t impress them, the continued toffee, rich fruit, and wood will.
Another no-nonsense, fabulous pour can be savored in the warm tones of Hirsh Select Small Batch 28-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. With maple, caramel, honey, mocha, and oak, this choice promises a long, complex finish.
A soggy, miserable day beckons one to slip out of wet clothes and into a dry vodka martini. Choose a premium vodka like High Roller, a small batch, handcrafted farm-to-table vodka made from sweet potatoes. A second, go-to spirit would be Peace, out of New York, a double gold winner that distills a premium handcrafted vodka using Catskill Mountain water.
Kauffman Luxury Vintage Vodka produces the world’s only vodka identified by vintage. With production often skipping two- to three years between vintages, this exotic Russian is joined by non-vintage sisters to fill in the missing years. Kauffman Private Collection Luxury Vodka, Jean-Marc XO, and North Shore Ultra Premium Vodka are additional pours worthy of note, providing crisp, clear, reliably smooth choices.
If your evening were one of those over-the-top kinds of nights that find you wishing there would be many, many more, the perfect high note is a fine cognac. Remember: A man’s worth is judged by the price of his brandy. Go with a suave sip bottled in Baccarat with a leather case reminiscent of steamship crossings, Delamain Le Voyage Cognac.
Distilled from old and rare Pre-Prohibition Eaux de vie; aged in 350-liter roux oak barrels, it is the stuff of longer, deeper kisses. Think Coffee, spices, tobacco, and Grande Champagne grapes. Romantic? Just wait. Hardy’s Essential Element line brings the world’s oldest unblended pour to your glass, merging chocolate, Coffee, oak, and smoke in a Daum crystal decanter – one of 300. An exceptional alternative, Arcana’s French Grand Champagne cognac, is only available upon request. Maison Surenne Cask 356, a blend of 100-year-old Eaux de vie, aged 45 years in a single cask, is thought by many to be the best sip money can buy.
For that once-in-a-lifetime evening, it’s Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl Limited Edition Cognac. Blended from Eaux de vie aged 40 to 100 years, one may purchase by invitation only.