Gingerbread Liqueur Contest, Revisited

I'd like to extend my thanks to Samantha at Cocktail Culture and to Hiram Walker for hosting their contest to create a new drink using Hiram Walker gingerbread liqueur. I was fortunate enough to enter and win with the Bronze Autumn Cocktail. Please check out Cocktail Culture to see the amazingly creative entries other bloggers submitted.

The prize was a bottle of the hard to find spirit of my choice. Remembering how much I enjoyed Midleton Irish whiskey while in Ireland, I asked for a bottle of the limited run of Midleton Single Cask. Little did I know what a challenge that was to get. Samantha and others really went above and beyond, because the distiller had concerns with shipping a bottle, but came thorugh in the end.

On Wednesday night, after a nasty ice storm, FedEx arduously delivered the long awaited box. Now the only only challenge is how best to drink it. I plan to share it with the friends who helped me choose among the various entries for the contest, and with another who lived in Ireland for a time. The rest I might just enjoy myself, adorned only with a couple of chunks of clear, bottled-water ice already frozen just for the occasion.

So, Samantha and Hiram Walker, thanks so much -- it has been a challenge and lot of fun.

Slainte!