The Gran Patron Burdeos Tequila is an ultra-premium dark tequila, which is double distilled then matured in American and French oak barrels for more than a year. Each purchase comes with a black walnut box with a special corkscrew and a crystal bee stopper. $530.

The lead character on Mad Men, played by Jon Hamm is Don Draper. As Head of Creative Services he is mysterious, a womanizer and a family man, feared and respected by his subordinates. Draper drinks with clients, drinks with dinner, and drinks alone. He prefers the darker spirits like scotch, bourbon, and rye. He prefers to order the Old Fashioned – simple, mysterious, and masculine like Don himself.

Recipe:
2 dashes aromatic bitters
½ tsp sugar dissolved with water and bitters
1½ oz of Makers Mark bourbon
1 cherry
1 orange slice
1 lemon wedge

Fill glass with ice. Add cherry, orange slice and lemon wedge. Pour in bourbon. Serve in a rocks glass over ice.

Abinsthe is back! And among the crowd of pretenders Nouvelle-Orléans rises like cream to the top. It’s the handiwork of chemist and absinthe genius Ted Breaux and lovingly made in a historic French distillery. Crisply aromatic, it makes an antique flavor taste new again.

Use it to make: Absinthe Drip
Cut the absinthe with water before drinking (Nouvelle-Orléans is 136 proof) by adding a drop at a time until the louche — the milky strata formed when water mixes with absinthe — just reaches the surface of the glass. Then sip.

Recipe:
1 cup granulated sugar
6 drops red food coloring
3/4 cup water
2 drops blue food coloring
2 apricot dried halves
1/2 tsp glycerine
1 tbsp almond extract
1/2 cup grain alcohol
1/2 cup water
1 cup brandy
3 drops yellow food coloring

Combine sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until all sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool. In an aging container, combine apricot halves, almond extract, grain alcohol with 1/2 cup water, and brandy. Stir in cooled sugar syrup mixture.

All tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. While premium tequila is made from blue agave, mezcal can be made from other varieties of the plant. Second: Tequila distillers generally steam the agave before fermentation, while for mezcal the agave is usually slow-roasted in oven-like pits lined with hot rocks. This process gives the spirit its signature earthy and smoky dimension.
There is a vast range of flavors and aromas found among the different mezcals. Some should be sipped like whiskies, while others can be mixed in cocktails.