Hi, Sc’Eric, thanks for the good words. I’m glad you found Cold Glass — and it’s fun to hear from a Diamondback aficionado.

I did use High West Double rye in the version I made just prior to reading this. High West is always the brand I reach for when paired with herbaceous flavors. And it works. But I’m presently trying to get to this drink’s essence.

We’ll see where the cards land, I guess.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, Monica.

As for applejack, the only brand that seems to be widely distributed is Laird’s. What you might try though, instead of applejack, is a decent apple brandy, which will generally have a fuller, more interesting flavor. Laird’s makes such a thing, as do quite a few other US and foreign distillers —French Calvados is probably the most famous of the world’s apple brandies.

As for the Grasshopper, my mother used to really love those things for dessert when we went out to restaurants. I don’t think I ever saw her make one at home. Hadn’t thought of that for a long time. Thanks!

Alas! that I haven’t been able to find Laird’s Bonded brandy in my stores for the last year or two, until just a couple weeks ago, so I don’t have a bottle at hand for a direct comparison. I will say that the Cedar Ridge is a decent mixing brandy, relatively young (they claim two years of barreling on the label), with the pronounced apple fruitiness of young apple brandies. The flavor is fairly clean, and not particularly complex compared to more aged brandies. I’d say it’s worth trying a bottle, both because it’s a pretty good mixer, and because, heck, you grew up near there. Auld lang syne…

As a matter of fact, I pretty much do reach first for Rittenhouse, as a sort of “house rye.” I haven’t tried Diamondback with the High West whiskies, but I do have the Double Rye in the pantry, and look forward to giving it a try, as an alternative. Thanks for the inspiration.

That’s an interesting suggestion, substituting alternative fruit brandies. I look forward to giving that a try. Thanks!

Cheers! I hope you enjoy it.

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That would be an interesting experiment, I hope it works well.

Thanks, Anne