Well, it has been a while since I posted . . . damn work . . . and then Thanksgiving creeping up on me filling by blood stream with ham and turkey and sweets . . . ummmmm turkey . . .

Anyway, I hope all of ya’ll out there had a great Thanksgiving and was able to spend it with friends and family.? I do want to send my thoughts and prayers to Sean Taylor’s family during this trying time.? Especially his little girl.? Even though she is very young, having lost a parent myself, I have some idea of what his family is going through.

While I was visiting my mother this past weekend she asked if I wanted this really nice martini set.? It came with a pitcher, six glasses and a serving tray.? Unfortunately, I couldn’t take it now because I simply have a finite amount of space in my apartment and one more thing in the kitchen/bar/laboratory could cause havoc (and exploding cabinets.)? But I seemed to remember a cocktail book that she and dad used to have.? I asked her about it and she said yes, they did have an old cocktail book tucked away in a bookcase somewhere.? After a bit of hunting we found it.? And it was just as I remembered.? Thin and tall, with covers made out of wood, bound by a strap of leather.? The cover has an etching of a rooster drinking a cocktail.? It was an awesome find.? But why don’t you judge for yourself . . .

So the book is titled “Just Cocktails” and was published in 1939 by Three Mountaineers, Inc.? My mom believes she bought the book for my father as a gift during one of her trips to Washington, DC as a chaperon on a senior class trip.? (Mom was a high school teacher before retiring.)? There are a lot of recipes that we’ve seen before and some new ones that I haven’t been able to look at too closely . . . yet.? But one thing that I found interesting was the recipe for the Aviation.? It called for applejack, pernod and grenadine . . . hmmmm . . . strange.? Sometime I want to do an Aviation post, but not until I get a bottle of Creme de Violette so I can make a proper Aviation.

I’ll start exploring this little treasure as soon as I finish reading David Wondrich’s new book “Imbibe.” If you get a chance to pick up this book, I highly recommend doing so.? It is a fascinating read.

Something else I really have to share with ya’ll.? You know of my love for bourbon.? You know of my growing fondness and appreciation of Rye.? Well, I may have mentioned this earlier, but about two months ago I got wind that Buffalo Trace distillery were releasing their 2007 Antique Collection.? Now this is something I just couldn’t pass up.? I contacted the Virginia ABC and put in a special order.? After waiting a little over a month, I get a phone call saying my swag had arrived.? Luckily, I live two blocks from an ABC store (dangerous, I know) that was holding my new babies for me.? If you click on the link above you can find out information about the individual bottles.? But here are a few pictures and some notes for you to drool over.

Here are all five of my children in a row.? Notice the color difference from left to right.? From left to right we have, Eagle Rare 17 Year Old, Sazerac Rye 18 Year Old, Thomas H. Handy Rye, William Larue Weller Bourbon and, finally, the granddaddy, George T. Stagg Bourbon.? It should be noted that two of these bottles are older than the rest.? The Eagle Rare and the Thomas Handy are from the 2006 Antique Collection.? It is so hard to find any of these at any given time, I had to snatch those up when I could . . .

Here is a close up of the Thomas Handy Rye and the WL Weller bourbon.? If you notice in the picture both of these are uncut, unfiltered and bottled at barrel proof.? This is some potent firewire!? The Weller is bottled at 58.95% Alc. by Vol. (117.9 proof.)? The Handy comes in at 66.35% Alc. by Vol making it a whopping 132.7 proof.

Here is another photo of all of the bottles together.? Again, notice the color differential.? If you check out the bottle on the far right (the Stagg), you’ll notice that it too is uncut, unfiltered and bottled at barrel proof.? That is why this is the granddaddy of the bunch.? Mr. Stagg comes to the table at a staggering 72.4% Alc. by Vol., aka, 144.8 proof.? Damn.

Well folks, that’s it for me tonight.? I’ll be back in a day or two.? Keep watching this space because next week we’ll have another Mixology Monday post.? This month it is being hosted by Jeffrey Morgenthaler and the theme is Repeal Day.? Yee-Haw!!!!? (From a family of moonshiners, I love this idea!!!)

See ya’ll later!