Our friend Gregg directed us recently to The Spirit World, which we were familiar with but which was new to him. (NOTE: Site now defunct.) I was appreciative for the tip, though, because I hadn’t read it in a while and the nudge was helpful. I’ve now added the RSS feed to my reader, so I won’t forget again.

Wesly was digging through the more recent posts, and noted a recent series called “Winter Wonders,” a collection of wintry cocktails for the ’08 season. He thought this one seemed the most appealing, which was our evening cocktail the night before Gluttony Day.

The Park Slope

2-1/2 ounces rye whiskey.
3/4 ounce Punt E Mes.
1/2 ounce apricot brandy (Apry, or Orchard Apricot, not eau de vie).
1 dash Angostura bitters.

Stir with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a good quality cherry.

I love Manhattan variations.

Also from Commander’s Palace, and taken from Ti Martin and Lally Brennan’s (a.k.a., The Cocktail Chicks’) book, In the Land of Cocktails: Recipes and Adventures from the Cocktail Chicks.

I’m not sure if this drink was created by or created for Miss Ella Brennan — matriarch of the Brennan family and its restaurants, the flagship being Commander’s — and it’s named after her vision of the afterlife, in which “[t]he bar looks like the one she and her siblings ran in the 1950s, the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon and Bienville in the French Quarter. Fats Pichon is playing. Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald are singing. The food is great, the drinks are better, and the company perfect.”

The Cocktail Chicks recommend Maker’s Mark, but we like Buffalo Trace.

Saloon in the Sky

1-1/2 ounces Bourbon.
3/4 ounce Laird’s straight apple brandy.
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier.

Combine ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.

When it’s my time, I think I want to go to Miss Ella’s heaven.

This was created by Vincenzo Marianella, and is one of the house cocktails at his bar Copa d’Oro in Santa Monica. It’s absolutely fantastic, and worth pointing out to those who are skeptical about cocktails based on a big, smoky Scotch.

Smoke O’ Scotland

1-3/4 ounces Laphroaig Scots whisky.
1/2 ounce dry vermouth.
1/2 ounce St. Germain.
1 barspoon Averna.
Orange peel for flaming.

Stir with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass, flame orange peel over the drink and garnish with the peel.

The reason Robert Hess is in town is for some huge Microsoft event (in case you didn’t know, that’s his day job). My friend Marcos Tello and his cohorts are doing the cocktails for one of the Microsoft events, and as Marcos knew Robert would be in attendance he headed up the evening’s cocktail menu with a drink that Robert first brought to most people’s attention (including mine). It’s a great drink too, perfect for the season, as summer turns into fall, the air becomes crisp and we start getting the jackets and sweaters out of the closet. (Well, except where I live, dammit, where it’s going to be 90 frakkin’ degrees today. Can we not have some seasons?! I ask you!)

Fallen Leaves
(Created by Charles Schumann)

3/4 ounce Calvados.
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth.
1/4 ounce dry vermouth.
1 dash brandy.
Lemon peel.

Stir with ice for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze the lemon oil from the peel onto the drink, and garnish with the peel.

My friend Damian Windsor, world-class bartender, is a finalist in Travel + Leisure magazine’s Beverage Arts Challenge ’08, in which mixologists from around the country compete for a Major Award.

Here’s Damian’s (hopefully) winning entry, which he’ll be pouring tonight at Bar Celona in Pasadena from 8pm on. You can also vote for Damian’s cocktail at the above link.

Montresor & Fortunato
(Created by Damian Windsor)

1-1/2 ounces Emilio Lustau Amontillado Sherry.
3/4 ounce Grand Marnier.
1/2 ounce Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth.
1 orange peel.
1 lemon peel.

Combine ingredients with ice and stir for 30 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Twist the orange and lemon peels over the top and discard. Garnish with three Spanish olives on a pick.

Sip and enjoy as you’re being bricked up while chained to a granite wall inside a catacomb, for the love of God!

Good luck, Damian!