During the holiday season, I concentrated on:
Liquors/Schnaps/Brandy:
- Alter Gerhard Cognac - A fruity and quite soft oak-barrel-built Cognac from Rhineland/Germany, very nice to go with medium-bodied cigars.
- Absolut Vodka - Well, I'm not exactly a fan of this Swedish vodka due to its overly creamy aftertaste but since some of my friends like it a lot, we always have a bottle or two of it on our parties.
- Slivovic - We had two bottles of Slivovic made by the (Romanian) father of a friend of my wife, it was the best stuff of that kind I ever drank. Normally I'm not really into Slivo because most of them give me sodburn and headaches but not this one, it's silky smooth with elegant aromes and tastes, soft, fragrant, almost like a good Grappa. I'm a believer now!
- Laphroaig 10 yrs old (single malt) - I don't know a lot of people who like this single but I'm a fan ever since I tried it when I was in England a few years ago. It tastes after iodine, peat, salt, gray clouds, wild water, has a certain round sweetness and lots and lots of body... difficult to describe but worth a try IMO. I always keep a bottle of it in my cellar which normally lasts a full year, Laphroaig definitely is no single for everyday use. Oh, and if you want to give it a try, see if you can find the 15 years old version which isn't as phenolic as the 10 years old variant.
Beer:
- Wolfshöher Vollmondbier (brewed on full moon) - Fresh, tasty, bubbly, one of my fave beers.
- Flensburger Pilsener (no new years eve without at least a crate of it)