Great Options For Your Hot Toddies

Looking for to try something besides bourbon in your Hot Toddy? Give these spirits a try for a nice change of pace.
Dec 07, 2016
  • 10
    84
    Sweet
    Unlike some other Old Tom gins, Anchor's derives its sweetness from distillation with star anise, licorice root, and stevia. The spirit is distilled in copper pot-stills and is not chill-filtered. It was first introduced in September 2004 and is bottled at 45% ABV.
  • 9
    84
    Smoky & Spicy
    Introduced in 2010, Del Maguey VIDA Mezcal is an artisanal single-village organic mezcal made from espadín agaves. These agaves are harvested from the village of San Luis del Rio in Oaxaca. Roasting of the agaves lasts for 3-8 days followed by an 8-10 day wild fermentation. The mezcal is twice distilled in wood-fired copper stills. Bottled at 84 proof.
  • 8
    87
    Rich & Full Bodied
    Black Bottle is a brand that has been around since the late 1800s, originally a product brought to market by brothers Charles, David and Gordon Graham in Aberdeen, Scotland. As expert tea blenders, they decided to turn their skills into blending whisky, which they released in a special bottle made with black glass from Germany. The product has had many incarnations since then, even changing package design, but is now under the leadership of distiller Ian MacMillan, who has revisited a recipe similar to the original, using Islay malts in the blend.
  • 7
    88
    Smoky
    Whiskey Del Bac Dorado is the flagship whiskey of family-run Hamilton Distillers in Tucson, Arizona. It is made from malted barley which is smoked using native mesquite wood, rather than peat. It's distilled twice in a 500-gallon copper pot-still and aged in American white oak barrels.
  • 6
    90
    Fruity & Sweet
    Pear Brandy was one of the first products made by St George Spirits after they were founded in 1982. They start with whole organic Bartlett pears, picked at the height of ripeness and distill in copper pot-stills. The goal here, as with all great eau-de-vie is to create a pure unaffected expression of the base distillate. About 30 pounds of fruit are used to create just one 750ml bottle.
  • 5
    91
    Fruity & Sweet
    Balcones Rumble is a spirit all its own. Made from Turbinado sugar, wildflower honey and Mission figs, this spirit continues the Balcones tradition of releasing forward-thinking products. Note: This technically does not qualify as a "rum" as it isn't made from sugarcane or its by-products alone.
  • 4
    92
    Sweet & Rich
    Released to the US in 2015, this whiskey from Teeling is a predominately corn-based single grain whiskey. This is fully matured in California red wine barrels. Bottled at 46% ABV it is non chill-filtered.
  • 3
    92
    Herbal
    Named for trees that are indigenous to South America, Avuá Cachaça Amburana begins in the single-estate sugarcane fields of Fazenda da Quinta, a family-owned farm located about four hours north of Rio de Janeiro. The hand-cut sugarcane is ground with a waterwheel to extract the juice, which is fermented for less than 24 hours using airborne wild yeasts and distilled in an alembic copper pot still. The cachaça rests for up to two years in casks made from Amburana wood.
  • 2
    92
    Sweet & Fruity
    Domaine de l’Acajou on Martinique was purchased in the late 1880s by Homère Clément, who sought to produce rhum agricole after learning distillation techniques from brandy estates in France. Clément VSOP Rhum Agricole is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice in a single-column copper pot-still. It's aged a minimum of 4 years in a combination of new French Limousin oak and re-charred ex-bourbon casks.
  • 1
    84
    Fruity
    Pulteney Distillery is located in the far north of the Scottish mainland in a town called Wick, an area rich in maritime history, once known for its herring fisheries. The distillery has long been known as The Maritime Malt due to the proximity of its dunnage warehouses to the North Sea. Old Pulteney 12 Year is a single malt matured entirely in American oak ex-bourbon barrels, mostly second-fill. This 12 year-old bottling is part of the brand's core range of whiskies which received an updated look in August 2018 along with three new expressions.