2011 went in a very different direction from 2010.  While classics remained appreciated, punches and Tiki drinks dominated the year, making it no surprise that Licor 43 should find its way onto our shelves.  Almost like a vanilla-flavored Cointreau, this mixes nicely with rum and tequila.  Try it in a margarita or any recipe calling for triple-sec.  The recipe I found 43 to be the most successful in is the Brazilian (http://zeitguys.us/?p=70), a drink that is easy to make but combines the fruitiness of a daiquiri with the dryness and appreciation deserving of fine rum.  Jamaican rums and Sammy Hagar’s new Hawaiian rum are good substitutes for the Brazilian rum.

Although 2011 was more dominated by Tiki and punch culture, the classics could not be forgotten, especially with the recent trends of distillers to make Genever products more accessible to the common palate.  While down in Mexico this year, I picked up a 1L bottle of Genever (fairly popular in South American countries) for around $8.  I didn’t have high expectations, but it turned out to be quite good, particularly in the Jerry Thomas classic “Improved Holland Gin Cocktail.”  The new offering from Bols is aged in French Limousin oak barrels for at least 18 months, lending the spirit a pale golden color and adding complex notes of wood and spice to the herbaceous, juniper flavors of the original.  Around $50 for a full liter bottle.

The Maurin Quina bottle art is perhaps the most famous art from the liquor world.  It’s rather interesting that the art for an aperitif would feature a green devil with a bottle of absinthe.  Maurin Quina Liqueur was created in 1906 by Auguste Maurin in Le Puy, France.  It is created by macerating wild cherries, quinine and bitter almonds in fortified white wine, and then blending it with cherry brandy, lemon juice, and cherry juice.  About the same proof as vermouth, Maurin is considerably lighter, in flavor, color and viscosity.  Taste-wise, it is like a lighter bodied, less sweet version of Cherry Heering, with an incredible Cinchona bark finish. Consider trying it in the Bitter Devil (http://zeitguys.us/?p=212), a combination of Maurin Quina, Campari, and Amer Picon (which you’ll have to make yourself unless you’re in France).

If bitters and vermouths are your thing, EXR is an intriguing herbal liqueur firmly rooted in the traditions of both classic sweet vermouth and alpine digestive tonics.  Like the Maurin Quina, EXR can be substituted for sweet vermouth in a number of different drinks or simply drunk straight.  This is definitely for the bitter drinker; most of my guests who’ve tried it didn’t care for it.  It has a following very much like Campari; people tend not to be lukewarm about it.  They either love it or reject it immediately.  The Bitter Truth company is a German outfit that specializes in a number of different bitters, including being the first to bottle Jerry Thomas’ own decanter bitters.  They also make a Creole bitter (think Peychaud’s) that is outstanding.  If you want to sample their product offering, pick up the bitters traveler’s set (http://bit.ly/tHD9D0).

I mentioned earlier that 2011 was dominated by Tiki drinks and punches and perhaps the single best product for both is Clement Creole Orange Shrubb.  Made from a rum base, it has a sharper and slightly more bitter taste than a Grand Marnier, making it the ideal ingredient in a properly done Mai Tai (not the kind you get in Honolulu) or the Tacoma Tennis Club Punch (http://zeitguys.us/?p=307), which became a favorite at parties as well as for taking a to-go bottle down to the pool.  Starting with a blend of white and aged rum, the spirit is infused with bitter orange peels and Creole spices. It is macerated in oak casks, and sweetened with pure sugarcane syrup.

While in Mexico, I noticed a big change from even 5 years ago.  Tequila shops are everywhere, on every corner.  They aren’t exactly low margin places, but all prices are negotiable.  I got a tasting of this $150 bottle of Porfidio and loved it.  The Limonsin oak did wonders for the agave, but something about the bottle didn’t sit with me.  Turns out, Porfidio has one of the most unique stories in the tequila business. Its owner, Martin Grassl, doesn’t operate his own still and has a bit of history with the law.  Most of that is behind him now, and he’s started selling and importing tequila again, but he is not allowed to call his product Tequila because his operation sits outside the county lines.  He buys various tequila distilleries and you can track which distillery produced your own bottle.  He does control the aging and bottling, where apparently his cactus (WTF) in the bottle gimmick has proven quite popular.  From what I’ve read online, the Porfidio bottle to have is the one with the green lip.

Imbibe magazine published a recipe called “Stars Fell on Alabama” which is a smattering of Angostura, Peychaud’s, absinthe, and orange flower water with 2 ounces of moonshine, sweetened to taste.  I first tried the recipe with Virginia Lightning and liked it so much that I went on a hunt to find the best bang for buck white dog out there.  Prichard’s is the best, price-performance.  About $20 a bottle and smooth corn taste.  Many of the white dogs produced in the Northwest are heavily flavored and taste more like toast than corn whiskey.  Stone Barn Brandy Works, out of Portland, makes some excellent white dogs, one from rye and another from oats that work well in the Stars recipe.  I’ve heard that the real moonshine is actually better than anything commercially available, but getting one’s hands on it is challenging, what with all the legal issues surrounding it.

Perhaps my most unique find this year was the 375ml bottling of barrel 131.  Buffalo Trace is undertaking a project to produce the world’s most perfect bourbon.  Everything from what part of the tree the wood is taken to make the barrel to blends, mashes, warehouse barrel position.  Unfortunately, it’s an expensive project to participate in, at $70/bottle for a half bottle at that.  Once you register your bottle, you record your experience and tasting notes and that information is aggregated accordingly.  Buffalo Trace believes that this experiment will allow the consumer to directly compare the impact of seven different critical variables across 192 bottles for a total of 1,396 different taste combinations.  I consider myself a pretty experienced drinker, but I don’t know whether I could compare the subtleties of 1,396 different bottles.  But I was happy to participate in the little way I could.

Turning to my favorite spirit, Rye, I was quite pleased to find a bottle of Willett’s 4 year Rye sitting in the window (ugh) of Honolulu’s Liquor Collection.  I bought it anyway and what a treat.  While a little more expensive ($35-40), this is probably the best rye in its price range.  It’s been truly challenging to name the best rye, as so many different attributes make them good.  Willett falls somewhere between the crafters and the big boys: producing an excellent tasting product at a larger-scale price.  Like many of the craft offerings, this is a higher proof spirit (55%) and is a limited release.  Inviting aromas of spice, vanilla, caramel and butterscotch lead to a bold, peppery palate enhanced by hints of cinnamon, tobacco and clove.  It works well in a Sazerac.

On the other side of the country, 2011 treated us to the newest whiskey offering from Spokane’s Dry Fly.  Similar to Maker’s Mark (both a flavored by wheat versus rye) in flavor, but the wheat is far more noticeable.  I find this to be a good product, but I don’t know how well it will do with the general public.  Side-by-side comparisons with other whiskeys have resulted in a big thumbs down to Dry Fly.  I’ve told my guests that it’s actually a very good product, but wheat is a harsher flavoring ingredient.  I find this product to mix well in different kinds of punches that call for whiskey.  Often times, it can take out or balance the sweetness of a particular punch and the other spirits (typically cognac and rum) hide the full frontal wheat assault.  What I do like the most about this product is the bottle.

My most exciting find of the year has to go to Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.  During the fall of 2011, I was fortunate to get an Exchange 2010 deployment with Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu.  Knowing I was going to be on Oahu for 4 weeks straight, I decided to break up the monotony a little and spend Thanksgiving week with the family on Maui.  I had heard that Hagar was on the island promoting his new rum, but recognizing that I don’t run in such circles, I kept it back of mind.  I head down the street to the corner store near my condo and sitting on the shelf was the last bottle of their first delivery.  This isn’t available in the other 49 until at least March.  For Washington residents, it won’t be available, except in bars, until June at the earliest.  This is great rum, in the same way his tequila is a premium drink.  Every other Hawai’ian rum is cloyingly sweet; this is more like a Jamaican or Brazilian rum, or a cross between molasses-based rum and Cachaca.

I’ve seen Casa Noble in stores and bars for many years, but never paid much attention to it.  Big mistake.  If you can have only one Tequila in your bar, this is it.  Made in the same way as the Porfidio (but without the legal troubles), this spirit has a bouquet like a fine French Cognac.  Just opening the bottle fills the immediate area with hints of chocolate; it’s incredibly aromatic.  The taste is smooth and sweet with fresh agave flavor.  Surprisingly complex hints of citrus, ginger, cinnamon, and mint emerge on the palate and then fade into a lasting, peppery finish. The Blanco makes an excellent base for cocktails, but the Reposado and Anejo should be reserved for sipping.  I also picked up a bottle of their single-barrel offering, which is nice for experiencing all the nuances of the product.  But if consistently excellent tequila is your priority, stick to the blends.

A couple of months ago, I lamented some of my frustrations with visiting one of the world’s great cities, Honolulu, and coming up dry in the craft cocktail arena.  While I had enjoyed by culinary experiences at Moana Surfrider, Roy’s and Doraku restaurant, none of them offered particularly competitive cocktail menus.  In fact, I rarely ordered from the cocktail menu and often had to revert to my third or fourth choice, due to lack of ingredients.  After doing some more research, my second trip was certainly more successful, but still fell short of expectations.  My reviews are as follows.

Mai Tai Bar @ The Royal Hawaiian

Of all the places I’ve visited so far in Honolulu, the Mai Tai Bar definitely offers the best combination of setting and menu.  Staged behind the Royal Hawaiian and resting 20 feet off the public beach, the Mai Tai Bar is a great place to hide from the afternoon sun, watch the sun set, or just hang out and talk during evening hours.  While their cocktails stay true to the Hawai’ian theme they differentiate themselves from other drinking establishments by taking away the sugary edge inherent in so many of the fruity drinks.

Last Cocktail

I actually prefer this to the Mai Tai as far as pre-dinner drinks go.  Served in a cocktail glass, this is as close to classic as anything I’ve seen on the beach.  It’s still pretty darn fruity, but the pear and lemon balance each other nicely and make room for the complimentary spice.  Were all the bars in Honolulu to fall in line behind a drier, more classical signature cocktail like they have with the Mai Tai, this would be a good town to drink in.

Mai Tai

Probably the best Mai Tai I’ve ever had; not entirely sure, I’ve had some good ones with Clement Schrubb and various exotic, hard-to-find rums, but for bars, this has to be the best.  And it’s definitely the best in Honolulu.  And you can’t beat sinking your toes into the Pacific sand while you enjoy one any hour of the day.  Whereas the Rum Fire premium Mai Tai leans toward ginger to make it stand out, the Mai Tai bar seeks perfect balance, and gets it.  The classic Mai Tai works anytime of day, but preferably when the sun is still hot, but just before it sets, say 3:00 to 4:00.

Rivals

I can’t say that sports bars are my thing, especially with different colored lights bearing down on you.  But Rivals has to be the most interesting bar in Waikiki, despite it’s tiny footprint.  Three Sazeracs on the menu and none of them are authentic.  I tried the one called “Classic Recipe” which is the pretty standard rye edition with one major difference (all 3 recipes include this difference), a half shot of Carpano Antica.  My only complaint is that the vermouth (and possibly the simple syrup) made the concoction a little too sweet.  But it was nothing short of delicious and worthy of honorable mention.  Rivals is only a few months old (opened in August 2011) and sits across the street from the Courtyard Marriott on Kuhio.  In addition, they have perhaps the largest collection of Signatory bottlings I’ve ever seen in a drinking establishment.  Other than perhaps toning down the sports bar image, they could benefit from a larger menu and a considerable expansion of their base spirits. Not sure how they plan to have craft cocktails without Maraschino or Chartreuse. The third problem, and perhaps the largest, is their consistency. On two out of three occasions, I arrived to find out that they didn’t even have Peychaud bitters in stock (the grocery store across the street sells it for $7). This from a bar with 30% of their published cocktail menu is Sazeracs.

rum әɹ!ɟ

Rum Fire is located in the Sheraton hotel, just behind the Royal Hawai’ian Shopping Center.  I was reluctant to try a corporate bar, but location is everything.  And having one of Oahu’s best sunset views, I found myself there on more than one occasion.  Seating is first come first served, but reservations can be made.  Rum Fire offers a good selection of drinks and a food menu best described as heavy snacks.  The food is great for what it is, but Rum Fire is not a restaurant so entrees are not available.  It seems they’re on a ginger kick with nearly everything on the cocktail menu containing it.  But it’s better than your typical NW pizza joint where every drink has peach schnapps as its base.  Among the drinks I sampled:

Sexy Wahine
Made with Momokawa Sake, fresh muddled cucumber, lime, and Stirrings ginger liqueur, the Sexy Wahine was light, but interesting.  The way the Sake and cucumber played off each other certainly made the drink.  The ginger rounds things out a little bit, but might be slightly overdone.

Old Man’s Surf Break 
Ron Matusalem Classico Rum, Stirrings ginger, muddled orange slice and maraschino with a splash of angostura bitters makes this drink taste very similar to an old fashioned, albeit sweeter.  While a great idea for a drink, I believe this will do much better should they decide to swap out the rum with Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum.  A nice cross between Jamaican and Martinique, Sammy’s rum would actually do well with this receipe.  And it would taste considerably fresher (versus sweeter).

High-Maka Mai Tai
Second only to the Mai Tai Bar, this drink made with Ron Zacapa centenario 23 yr old rum combines falernum and ginger to produce a very good and distinct Mai Tai.  I’ve used falernum in my Mai Tais for years, but never really thought about how a ginger liqueur might benefit the ginger already in the falernum.  I find Stirring’s to be a bit too sweet, compared to Domain de Canton, but given it’s also about 75% cheaper, I under any bar’s preference towards it.

Tiki’s

I don’t think I would have ever gone to this restaurant were we not with the children.  From the street, it looks like a tacky, overdone, concept restaurant based on a Tiki theme.  And maybe it is, but I was just fooled.  But once I sat down and looked at the menu, I found myself in the Hawai’ian version of McMenamins, a simple but diverse menu of regional and classical dining.  The food menu is not pretentious, nor overly priced and nor is it superb (and nor does it need to be).  This was the only restaurant of those I visited whose cocktail menu exceeded one page and it was clear that Tiki drinks were a specialty that had some craft behind it.  Of all the places I drank, this was the only one to serve drinks in Tiki mugs (available to go, of course) and the menu read like something out of Beach Dog Barry.   The 1944 Mai Tai is on par with Rum Fire and Mai Tai bar and even features cocktail foam.  Of all the places I visited, Tiki’s had the most knowledgable waitstaff in regards to cocktails.

Doraku

Perhaps my favorite restaurant in Honolulu, Doraku is not particarly known for its cocktails as much as its sushi and Sake collection (which is one of the largest in the US).  I was treated to a few tastes of 5 different kinds of Sake and impressed by my bartender’s ability to teach Sake appreciation like I have for cocktails to so many others.  It even boasts a handful of cocktails made with Sake, my favorite being the Murasake Geisha, a chambord creation chased with Sake and finished with Gin.  Very similar to the Sexy Wahine from Rum Fire, albeit more balanced among the blackberry, gin and Sake.  Arguably, the blackberry was still a little too much for my liking, but within the range of tweakable.

Not ready to give up entirely, I made myself a fairly frequent patron of this establishment.  My final night in Honolulu, I gave the bartender a hacked together recipe of Oxford Punch and told him I wanted the Japanese version with Lychee and Sake.  (He thought in his head, “This can’t be done,” and said,) “I will have to charge you for the cognac even if you don’t like it.”  I told him I trusted him and it turns out I wasn’t lying.  He made an outstanding punch and surprised even himself.  I told him to keep the recipe, tweak it, and put it on the menu.  It was definitely the best drink I’d had in Honolulu in 7 weeks.  We tried to think of some names for it.  I wanted to credit the Japanese influence, but truth be told, it was more Jamaican and French than anything else.  My final idea was the Tsunami, as it’s strength resembled the hurricane.  We debated whether such a name was the right hat tip for the Japanese.  Anyway, if you find yourself in Doraku and want to experience this punch, the recipe is a somewhat modified version of the following: 1oz Cognac (Hennessey), 1oz Jamaican Rum (Appleton White Special Label), 1/2 oz triple sec (or grand marnier or Clement Orange Shrubb), 3/4 oz Sake Hoyo Manamusume, 1 oz fresh lemon juice, and 1/4 oz Lychee puree.  Sweeten to taste, but about 1/2 oz simple syrup does the trick for me.

Town

We stopped into town on a weekend mid-afternoon; it’s located in Honolulu’s Wailalea neighborhood, within a northern view of Diamond Head.  Town was recommended to me by two different bartenders in Waikiki as the place to go for craft cocktails.  If that is true, then craft cocktails have already lost in Honolulu.  I was deeply disappointed with the cocktail menu, featuring about 10 items, none of which challenged the palate other than maybe that of a university co-ed.  That’s not to say that these were bad lookin’ drinks; many of them were ones I would make in my own home, but certainly couldn’t part with Honolulu prices to imbibe.  I figured I’d test them well and ordered the Sazerac.  Jim Beam rye and Pernod pastis; it was okay, but didn’t leave me dying to return.  It didn’t help that the waiter took my candid feedback as an order for another round.  Who drinks 2 Sazeracs in 85 degree weather at 2:30 in the afternoon?  Well, I might succumb to two of three.  Of the bars I’ve been to in Honolulu, Town shows the most promise, but it needs to expand the cocktail menu to really distinguish itself.  It needs 20 options for those tired of beach drinks and 20 more options for those who arrived at the airport tired of beach drinks.  If Town could make those changes, I see a potential growth opportunity among the locals and business men like me.  They’ll never attract the tourists en masse, but they’re missing the only opportunity they have to attract tourists by limiting their menu options.  No one goes to town for the girls, the beach or the party.  Someone at Town needs to realize that.

Hula Grill

Upstairs from Duke’s and often overlooked (at least during my stay), the Hula Grill is the slightly upscale sister of Duke, both for cuisine and especially for cocktails.  Unfortunately, they don’t stray far from the Honolulu 8 (the eight cocktails found in every bar in Honolulu, the most dominant being the Mai Tai).  Not finding anything too interesting on the menu, I went with the Wrong Island Ice Tea, humorous on so many levels.  A nice combination of the four main ingredients in a Long Island (so many places drop the Tequila, which is unfortunate), the Wrong Island mixes in pineapple and passion where the sour and coke normally go.  It wasn’t too sweet, but it aches my heart to see such a prime piece of real estate fall so short in the cocktail menu department.  But as the bartender told me, no one oreders classic cocktails when they’re overlooking the beach.  Too bad; those tourists don’t know what they’re missing.

Il Lupino

Located in the Royal Hawaiian mall with a nice indoor/outdoor atmosphere, Il Lupino would not have attracted my attention were it not for their Carpano Antica cylinder topping their bar shelves.  I ordered a Negroni with the Carpano, excited to find it anywhere in Hawaii; I was disappointed to learn it was merely a decoration, something left from long ago when the owner got crazy one day and bought a vermouth for its packaging.  Despite it’s lack of a waterfront view, Il Lupino sports a nice atmosphere and the outdoor space is a great place to people watch.  Unfortunately, that is where it ends.  The drinks fail to impress; the wait staff (or, our waiter anyway) is rude and the food is good; but not for the price, even in Honolulu.  It’s unfortunate; this looks like a good place to just hang out after a day at work, but it’s not.  You’re much better off climbing two flights of stairs and visiting Doraku.  While Doraku doesn’t have much better in the way of cocktails, the sushi and Sake bars are among the best in the world.  And the prices are quite competitive.

Duke’s

Duke’s is a tough one; it feels like a meat market, but with less hamburger and more cheeks.  Unfortunately, the drinks are fast poured, overly sweet, and not particularly pleasant.  But as far as atmosphere goes, it doesn’t get much better.  There’s a certainly vivacity at Duke’s that works for nearly every age group.  And the food is decent; not great, but not overpriced either, given their slice of real estate.  I reluctantly ordered the Mai Tai, asked for them to dry it down a lot, and it was still too sweet and bland.  I think these guys could benefit from developing a Waikiki punch; something that contains a little pineapple and lemon juice, but still tastes predominantely like brandy and rum (and maybe a little Bourbon).  Or they could pick up a copy of any of Beach Dog Barry’s Tiki books and really focus on making a premium beach drink.