Duke of Kidalton

Lauren Mote’s Duke of Kildalton cocktail. Dan Toulgoet photo

This cocktail, created by Lauren Mote, celebrates the region of Kildalton, on the Scottish isle of Islay, home to the elegant but powerfully smoky Lagavulin 16-year single-malt whisky.

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Pomegranate Green Tea Punch

David Warren’s Pomegranate Green Tea Punch. Amy Ho photo.

This zero-proof cocktail is a long, cool drink that’s fruity and spicy, with a beautiful balance of sweetness and acidity, and a surprisingly deep complexity for a drink without a spirit base.

INGREDIENTS: 
• 3 oz (90 mL) brewed white-pomegranate tea (available from Lucas Teas in Squamish)
• 1 oz (30 mL) pineapple shrub (recipe follows)
• ½ oz (15 mL) lime juice
• ½ oz (15 mL) grenadine
• Dash pineapple juice
• Dash rosewater

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Standed Mountie

The Standed Mountie. Lucy-Kate Armstrong photo

• 2 oz. Basil Hayden’s Bourbon
1 oz. lemon juice
• 0.4 oz. maple syrup
• 0.4 oz. cinnamon syrup
• 1 oz. egg white

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Van Isle Iced Tea

Van Isle Iced Tea—created by Brad Stanton and Robyn Gray, head bartenders at Prohibition—taps into several of the top cocktail trends of 2017. Viranlly Liemena photo (courtesy of Prohibition).

This drink – created by Robyn Gray and Brad Stanton, head bartenders at Prohibition in the Rosewood Hotel Georgia – taps into several of 2017’s cocktail trends: infusions, new white spirits, and mixing multiple spirits together. Note that you can purchase jars of hibiscus flowers in syrup at stores like Gourmet Warehouse, or make your own using the recipe below.

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The Hunting Party

The Hunting Party. Victoria Distillers photo

Created by Katie MacDonald at Veneto in Victoria

• 1 oz Victoria Oaken Gin
0.75 oz Dubonnet
• 0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro
• Twist orange

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Hot Buttered Rum

Istockphoto.com photo.

In the 17th century, American colonialists replaced the whisky in their toddies with rum. Then some genius added a pat of butter to the concoction while another added baking spices, and so they created the gloriously unctuous drink we know as hot buttered rum.

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End of an era

Tiffany Davis’ End of an Era. Lou Lou Childs photo.

Pablo Picasso’s Blue Period meets the Martini.

• 1.5 oz Grey Goose Pear
• 0.75 oz Hpnotiq
• 0.25 oz vermouth infused with lavender and sage
• 0.25 oz chamomile
• 0.25 oz fresh squeezed lemon
• Dash of Bittered Sling Denman Extract

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Donner & Blitzen

L’Abattoir’s Donner & Blitzen. Dan Toulgoet photo

Smoky and tropical, this cocktail created by Katie Ingram, bar manager of L’Abattoir, is a perfect pick-me-up for a chill day.

• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Del Maguey Vida Espadin Mezcal
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) French sweet vermouth
• 0.75 oz (20 mL) Heering cherry liquor
• 0.5 oz (15 mL) pineapple juice
2 tsp (10 mL) orange juice
1 tsp (5 mL) lemon juice
2 dashes Bittered Sling Autumn Bog Cranberry

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