Hot New Libations

By Brad Jamieson, Don Ellis, Aaron Jacobs

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Hot New Libations
We all know that summer brings a host of new liquid substances. Even if you’re too hot to create four-ingredient martinis – most of these new liquids have the season in mind and are ready to go. Even those of us who love the summer sun start to burn out doing mixology time, so here we present the best products to survive the heat in style.

Bacardi Big Apple
Sorry green apple-vodka, but big rum-apple is the new badass. Bacardi’s Big Apple – a rum and apple fusion – thrusts forward the crisp flavours of fresh, green apples. Even the under-taste is more complex than vodka and apple blends.

It's the taste and, remarkably, it’s the body with whom the cocktail drinker will identify. To capture this, Bacardi’s Big Apple begins with Bacardi Carta Blanca Rum, aged white rum, fuses it with Golden Delicious, Granny Smith apples and the crispness of the Fuji apple.

Bacardi Big Apple does take its sweet time though and while the flavour is robust, it is still very easy to drink. – B.J

Ultra-Premium Smirnoff Penka Vodka
Vodka is a grand thing: emotional and provocative, complimentary to its accompanying ingredient, and above all, a mature libation. To say that vodka is assured is an understatement – better to say that despite being almost embarrassingly personal; people stick to their favourite brand faithful to the core.

Smirnoff will surely lure some of those faithful with the release of the Ultra-Premium vodka Penka, but Ontario will be the only place in the world to be able to purchase it. Penka’s taste is exceptionally paced, easy to drink and plays well with others: A side of Blood Orange or Beetroot enhances the drinking experience by amplifying the subtleties of the vodka. Meanwhile, C Lounge and Rosewater Supper Club are serving the specialized “Penka – Zen” cocktails to showcase the vodka’s flavour.

However, the thing is that the luxury vodka isn't all show, it's also flavourful. Penka boasts a simultaneously combination of creamy under-taste, including ‘tarte-au-citron’ and nutmeg – creating, above all, an unerringly confident flavour. The vodka’s qualities are derived from a process that takes place during distillation. Only the finest cut makes it into each bottle, delivering luxury vodka of quality, character and distinctiveness.

“We created the Smirnoff Penka Vodka Duo and the Penka Zen,” says Keith Gillespie, Director of Smirnoff Canada, “to give consumers interesting options on how to savor this luxurious vodka.”

Indeed, by allowing us limited access to the vodka, which retails for $125.00 for a 700 mL bottle, available at LCBO stores until October only, Penka’s potential charm thickens our curiosity even more. – D.E.

Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
Most of us have already tried the various Pomegranate cocktails, which, by the way, are still tres hip. Kentucky-based Heaven Hill Distilleries knows this well and has introduced their newest taste sensation in the spirits world, Pama Pomegranate Liqueur.

Heaven Hill has high expectations for Pama, and rightly so. Billed as the world's first true pomegranate liqueur, the spirit is made with California pomegranates, offering overwhelming flavours of sweet and tart. The new liqueur is a blend of imported Tequila, super-premium vodka and natural California pomegranate juice.

Pama Liqueur bears such a serious pomegranate punch, in fact, that local bartenders have been known to use Pama instead of cranberry juice to therefore create Pomegranate Cosmopolitans. The 34 proof (17% alcohol by volume) offers a highly mixable taste and is angled to appeal to urban trendsetters. – D.E.

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