Sultry and supple, this mix of brandy, sherry and honey-sweetened liqueur is delicious any time of year.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

2 oz. 1757 Virginia Brandy
1⁄2 oz. Amontillado sherry
1⁄2 oz. Drambuie or saffron honey syrup
Rocks glass, big rock
Orange peel

Shake ingredients together with ice in a shaker, and then strain over a big rock in a rocks glass.  Garnish with orange peel.

Recipe courtesy Chris Lane, Lolinda, San Francisco.

One remarkable fact is that the largest consumers of gin in Europe are... (drum roll, please)... the Spanish. They drink twice as much gin per person as do the British. So we cannot enjoy Spain without a gin cocktail. The most consumed gin beverage in Spain (again, remarkably) is the gin & tonic. We are going to side-step the G&T for now, and introduce a more sophisticated gin fizz.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

1½ Watershed Gin
½ oz Pedro Ximénez sherry
½ oz simple syrup
¾ oz lemon juice
1 egg white (or 1 oz aquafaba)
2 oz soda water
lemon twist garnish
Collins glass

Dry shake the gin through the egg white/aquafaba. Then, strain over ice in a collins glass and top with soda.

This cocktail is a rather simple version of a martini, but substituting dry fino sherry for vermouth, giving a nuttier, yet bone dry take on the traditional martini.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

2 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz fino sherry
1 dash orange bitters
Martini glass
lemon twist

Stirred, never shaken, and strained up into a martini glass.

This cocktail, as many are, was born out of necessity. In the early 2000's, you could not get a decent drink in Loudoun County. I would go into bars and ask for a Manhattan, and the biggest letdown would come when the drink was served: elderly, un-refrigerated, spoiled vermouth, shaken within an inch of its life (dilution!), and served in a glass full of ice (this is NOT an iced-tea, sir!). Knowing that these bars had limitations on the quality and freshness of their vermouth, I sought to find a recipe that would give me the richness of a Carpano Antica with an inferior product. By adding the Port, we gained that richness that I was missing from a straight pour of old thin watery vermouth.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

2 oz Roundstone Rye 92
½ oz Port
½ oz cheap vermouth (which is kind of the point of this cocktail)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Cherry garnish

Stirred, never shaken, and strained up into a coupe.

Recipe by Scott Harris.

The Negroni is a classic Italian cocktail known for a crisp full flavor and a bitter finish. As Becky Harris (my wife, and our chief distiller) likes to say, “the bitterness reminds you it's a grown-up's drink.” Though variations exist, the most agreed upon recipe is equal parts gin, Italian (red sweet) vermouth, and Campari.

The word “sbagliato” means “broken” or “wrong”. So how do we mess up a perfect Negroni? By adding sparkles! This changes this rather boozy cocktail into something lighter, and more like an aperitivo—that is a perfect welcome cocktail for the evening!

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

1 oz Watershed Gin
1 oz Don Ciccio Luna Amara
1 oz Tribuno sweet vermouth
rocks glass with ice
top with soda or Prosecco
garnish with orange half-slice

Limoncello is a liqueur particular to Italy, and very popular in the Amalfi coast, where Francesco from Don Ciccio hails. It is an infusion of lemons and zest in spirits with sugar. You can also find an “Orange Cello” or Mandarinetto and a Fico d'india (“Fig Cello”) from Don Ciccio. To close out the evening, a sweet something in a flute is always nice. The combination of fruit brandy, limoncello, and some bubbles should be a great way to end any evening.

[Part of the Art of the Cocktail series, season two.]

½ oz Pearousia pear brandy
½ oz Limoncello
Top with bubbles
Flute
lemon ribbon garnish

Tis the season for autumn flavors!  Nothing goes with falling leaves and cooler breezes than crisp apple cider, fall spices and rye whisky!  Here is a punch that you can enjoy, cold or hot!

3 cups Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup ginger-cinnamon syrup*
6 cups fresh apple cider

*To make the ginger-cinnamon syrup:
1/2 lb fresh ginger root
5 cinnamon sticks
2 cups water
granulated cane sugar

Thinly slice ginger root (no need to peel!) and boil with cinnamon sticks in water for 45 minutes. Strain, and add 1/3 volume of granulated sugar to remaining hot liquid. Example: if after straining, you are left with 1.5 cups ginger-cinnamon liquid, add 1/2 cup sugar.

Recipe courtesy Linda Jockers.

Johnny Bandanna, aka John Shope, aka The Next Rounds On Me, came up with some lovely fall punch cocktails for a festival we did in Powhatan, Virginia this season.  Here they are for your enjoyment.

Appalachian Honey Grapefruit Sour

Glass Type: Rocks Glass or Coup
Garnish: None
Method: Combine all ingredients into ice filled shaker, shake vigorously, then serve on the rocks or neat.

Ingredients:

2 oz. Catoctin Creek Roundstone Rye Whisky
2 oz. fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1 oz. honey syrup
Ice

*Honey Syrup: Simply boil water and mix a 1:1 ratio of hot water and locally sourced honey together, allow to cool and keep refrigerated for up to three months.

W.G.L.L.G. For Me:

Glass Type: Martini or Coup Glass
Garnish: Lavender Sprig
Method: Combine all ingredients into ice filled cocktail shaker, shake vigorously and fine strain into glass.

Ingredients:

2 oz Watershed Gin
Juice from 1 Lime
1 oz Lavender simple syrup
2 Dashes Embitterment Lavender Bitters

*Lavender Simple Syrup: Boil 1/4 cup lavender seeds with 1 cups of water and 1 cup white sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, strain seeds and then keep refridgerated for up to three months.

(That’s a Watershed Gin Lavender Lime Gimlet for Me, please and thank you!)

This cocktail was one of our featured cocktails for the distillery dinner in August.

2 oz Catoctin Creek Watershed Gin
¾ oz Lemon Juice
¾ oz Butterfly Pea Tea & Basil Simple Syrup
Top with Cava
Garnish with Yellow Cherry Tomato & Purple Basil Leaf

Serve in Champagne flute.

This cocktail was one of our featured cocktails for the distillery dinner in August.

1 oz Short Hill Mountain Peach Brandy
1 oz El Guapo Rose Cordial
1 oz Lemon Juice
3 drops of Frontier (Sarsaparilla) Bitters
Top with Club Soda
Garnish with Mint Sprig

Serve in a Nick and Nora glass.

This cocktail was one of our featured cocktails for the distillery dinner in August.

2 oz Roundstone Rye 92 proof Distiller's Edition
½ oz Benedictine
½ oz Carpano Antica
3 dashes Herbsaint
3 dashes Peychaud's Bitters
Garnish with Catoctin Creek 1757 Brandied Cherry

Serve in rocks glass.

This cocktail was one of our featured cocktails for the distillery dinner in August.

1 oz Roundstone Rye 80 proof
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Orange Juice
¼ oz Raspberry Truffle Tea Simple Syrup
¼ oz Grenadine
Garnish with a floating layer of Angostura Bitters and Orange Wedge

Serve in rocks glass.