Domaine de Canton.

An interesting mini I picked up the other day. The label reads "French ginger liqueur with VSOP cognac". I am a sucker for all things ginger (the spice, not Ron Weasley kind). 28%ABV and a interesting ridged bottle. Seems a bit high for a liqueur. I also decided to break out one of my Glencairn glasses that I had bought back at the beginning of the summer. I thought to use a beer tasting glass, but I didn't want a bunch of text in the way.

The ginger is prominent in the nose but on the taste, it quickly becomes medicinal. It is a liqueur so it's fairly viscous, syrupy, and sweet. I cut it with some Fevertree tonic water. The quinine bitter interacts well with the sweet bite of the ginger. It reminds of St. Germaine but not as sweet. It may be one of those difficult-to-use liqueurs. Still, it's unique to me, and I wouldn't mind having a bottle of this around the bar. Being as it smacks of St. Germaine, it might work well in the same manner of drinks.

Evan Williams Honey Reserve.

Randomly read about its release and looked around and found it here. Normally priced at around $12 (half the price of American Honey), Evan Williams has a rebate going to help move and establish its product. After rebate, a 750mL bottle comes to $3. Hot.

And the thing is, Honey Reserve is just as good as American Honey. It's a little less viscous, a touch lower ABV, and little generically sweeter, but I can't justify paying the retail for American Honey when there's such a comparable product at half the price.

St. Germain.

I've been interested in this for a while. Made from elderflower. Very nice nose. A bit too syrupy and almost too sweet. Makes a nice drink with seltzer, but I don't know how to mix it.

Pama Pomegranate.

I read some reviews on it before buying it since the store was offering a nice price on it. It touts that it is the world's first true pomegranate liqueur.

I had a sip of it straight at first. It was sweet, rather tart, and very distinctly pomegranate. It wasn't too sweet, but the combination of the sweetness with the syrupy texture makes it unpalatable straight for me, at least.

I mixed it with some seltzer which was quite good. I also tried it with some seltzer and New Amsterdam. It may have been a combination of too much seltzer and the citrus in the NA, but it didn't blend well there. At only 17%ABV and considering how strong the flavor is, I don't see it adding much alcohol to any drinks where it's used.

I imagine it would make a good pairing with neutral spirits like vodka to add color and punch while the spirit brings the alcohol. The booklet that came with it suggested a margarita. I've had a pomegranate margarita, and while I'm not necessarily a fan of tequila and overly sweet drinks, I did find that pretty good. Some experimenting will be had.

Wild Turkey American Honey.

I had the opportunity to taste this at a new liquor store that opened up back home. And was immediately taken and bought the last bottle in the store (for the next 20 minutes. It was opening night and another truck was due soon.) Having thought out that purchase poorly, I decided I didn't want to risk the hassle of trying to ship it, tried to return it and failed, and ended up selling it to a friend at my own loss of a couple dollars.

Having been all whiskey'd out in my last year of college, that was actually the first time I had had whiskey in quite some time. I will say my whiskey experience hasn't been very high tier. I've had Jim Beam, Jim Beam Black (4 bottles was enough for me), Southern Comfort (not really whiskey), Jack Daniels (not much whoop), and Old Crow (cheapest pint in a time of need).

I found American Honey to be quite good at room temperature. I imagine it would only get better on the rocks. A 71 proof liqueur, it spills on the tongue like velvet. It's more like drinking whiskey-flavored nectar rather than honey-infused whiskey.

Zen Green Tea Liquer.

This is also long overdue. I had been putting this off until I could find a supplier up here. Which I did, despite being way overpriced. It's something use scarcely anyway. It's a sweet liquer blended with matcha. FOr not being into sweet drinks, I like it quite well. It imparts a smooth, soothing finish to a lot of drinks and adds a nice color to clear drinks. I've had it with tonic, gin, both, and by itself. It's worth the money a sa novelty at the very least.