The Drunk Pirate

Grande Absente: My Date With The Green Absinthe Fairy

It was a Saturday in late September 2008. I had several people over to watch Florida stomp the shit out of whom ever they were playing as usual, and Nathan and Rachel were two hours late. As usual. I think there was an issue with Rachel’s jeans or something. I cant really recall.

What I can recall is when Nathan finally arrived, we made our way to Springhill Liquors – My favorite liquor store in the whole world. The reason it’s my favorite, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, is because the owner will mark really expensive bottles of whatever down by as much as 50 percent just to move them or get people to try them. This is how I found jewels like Zaya Gran Reserva Rum and Sonnema Herb Vodka.

As we walked down the isles we discussed the possibilities each bargain-priced bottle of affluence held for the night. We were looking for something unique. Something neither of us had ever tried before. Then we saw it.
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Popularity: 2% [?]

        

Mint Flavored Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

Now I’ve never really been a fan of mint in general because with most mint-flavored affairs the only thing you taste is the mint. I don’t even like those little mints they leave on your pillows at hotels. My utter disdain for mint made me extremely skeptical of Firefly Vodka’s mint-flavored sweet tea vodka.
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Popularity: 3% [?]

        

Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon: I wish all 10-year-olds were this awesome.

As a rule I don’t normally drink bourbon until the official start of football season. Why? Well, bourbon is what I consider to be a “cold weather” spirit. You can’t really get into the mood for a really earthy and smooth drink like bourbon when the average low temperature is 78 degrees. Bourbon is for keeping you warm. It’s not for cooling you off  by the pool like a nice tumbler of Tanqueray Rangpur and pineapple does. However, every now and then it’s ok to deviate from the norm and drink bourbon out of season. Especially when it’s as good as Eagle Rare’s 10-year-old bourbon.

Like most great bourbons I’ve sampled, Eagle Rare comes in a very simple bottle with a cork. The smooth aroma when I first opened the bottle made me want to wear the stuff as cologne. Or drink it straight. Which I did.

Eagle Rare is the bourbon equivalent of Pyrat Rum or Zaya Gran Reserva Rum. Not too expensive, but willing to take the Pepsi challenge with any of the “ultra premium” brands on the market. Even after I emptied the bottle I looked like a glue-sniffing addict taking long, slow smells out of the bottle. Seriously, they should bottle this and market it as aftershave you could drink.

I also tried Eagle Rare with several different mixers with whom it did great with. Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, etc. However, this is definitely a bourbon you could drink on the rocks, thus making you look like a total bourbon connoisseur to your friends or coworkers.

This is definitely one of my top bourbons now and am counting the days until football season gets here so I can tell these dog days of summer to go to hell and leave me and my bourbon be to watch football till we pass out.

A bottle of Eagle Rare 10-year-old will set you back about $29-$39 depending where you buy it. The company also has a 17-year-old version that I can’t wait to try.

Popularity: 8% [?]

        

Raspberry Flavored Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

One of the reasons there’s been a lack of posts for the past few months – other than the site redesign – is because I’ve been doing research. A lot of it. One thing that’s kept me busier, and drunker for that matter, than a New Orleans judge during Mardi Gras is the new line of Firefly Vodka flavors that were recently introduced.

I’m pretty sure that this is a first for the alcohol industry. An infused, infused vodka. I don’t even know the proper way to write that. Is it infused-infused vodka?

although I usually leave the flavored vodkas to the sorority girls, my instincts told me I needed to try the new Firefly flavors in the name of The South, journalism and science.
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Popularity: 40% [?]

        

Platinum 7x Vodka: Don’t Be A Grey Goose Guido

Lets start this review by dispelling a few myths about vodka. First of all, any of you who are vodka drinkers or have been reading The Drunk Pirate on a regular basis know that good vodka doesn’t have to be expensive and just because a vodka is expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.

Take Grey Goose for example:

On more than one occasion I’ve witnessed so called “ballers” throw down $150 for a bottle of Grey Goose at a club because they equate expensive with being a good vodka. I mean it does claim the be “The Worlds Best Tasting Vodka”  right on the label.

Truth is Grey Goose consistently places near the bottom of every blind taste test it is entered into. Funny thing is it’s usually brands like $16-dollar-a-bottle Smirnoff that win.

But don’t tell that to the Guido’s in Jersey who eagerly flash Grey Goose and cheesy Zoolander poses around in order to draw attention away from their horrible hair and spray-on tans.

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Popularity: 20% [?]