Sweet

I went to the Re Store with a friend on Saturday, so that we could fill the gaps in our respective liquor cabinets. The liquor section at the Re Store was created for dipsomaniacal old Mediterranean ladies to get their hands on whatever obscure alcohol reminds them most of the Old Country, and as such it's a cornucopia of exotic booze. If you want mandarin liqueur, saffron gin, macadamia schnapps or a dozen different varieties of absinthe, the Re Store is your one stop shop.


In my perfect world the Re Store would offer Booze Samplers, so that one could try little bottles of the liqueurs based on elderflowers, chamomile or white chocolate. As it is they all sound fascinating, but do I really want half a litre of any of them? Plus there’s always the horrible possibility that I’ll drop fifty bucks on something that ends up tasting like Becherovka.


I picked up another bottle of my favourite Zubrowka, a good chardonnay, and an extra-aged bottle of Penfolds port. My friend got some ruby port, a bottle of Glenfiddich for his brother's birthday, and, on a whim, a bottle of American Honey.


We tried it later that evening. American Honey is a whiskey-based honey liqueur in the same vein as Glayva or Drambuie, but with a stronger whiskey flavour. While it lacks the balance and refinement of Drambuie it's still a decent enough drink, and it's also somewhat cheaper. As an added bonus it comes in a handsome and very sturdy bottle, heavy and well-shaped for bludgeoning, should you be in the habit of bludgeoning people with whiskey bottles, as I am.


One might be moved to question the name, which frankly sounds like the title of a magazine hidden under a teenaged boy's mattress. But then again this may be intentional, given that American Honey is based on Wild Turkey bourbon, and Wild Turkey is the whiskey of choice for the bogan classes. As 'Idiocracy' noted, you can sell anything to the underclass with a well-placed suggestion of porn.