2021 has come and gone in the blink of an eye, and it’s time again to look back on the year that was! This list is an effort to find some highlights and lowlights of the past year, while passing out some well deserved praise.
Year in Review First Pour Cocktails 2021
First off, thank you to everyone that has visited this year (and in years past)! We truly appreciate your readership and support, and look forward to seeing you again in 2022. We’re still small though, growing from about 450 active users a month to 700 by year end. So if you haven’t told a friend yet, please feel free to share our site!
For the year we split this list into two different areas of focus. The first is cocktails, where we’ll round up some of favorites cocktails in a variety of categories (Tiki, Original, Classics) as well as our least favorites we encountered. This list is comprehensive of what we’ve actually posted, and may doesn’t reflect everything we tried.
The second half of this list looks at spirits we’ve tried this year. We’ve broken the categories into 3 distinct selections:
- Most Impressive Spirit
- Best Value Spirit
- Most Disappointing Spirit
Favorite Tiki Classic 2021:
This year was the first we specifically dedicated part of the coverage to Tiki drinks. These complex cocktails bring up warm feelings of island time, and are usually layered with complexity. With about 10 to choose from, we’ve selected 3 nominees.
The Winner – Jet Pilot
We made more Jet Pilots than we care to admit this summer. This boozy rum forward drink is a demonstration of the complexity and layering capability of rums. The result is a drink that changes in unique and fun ways as you switch the rums used in the base. The balance of citrus makes for an incredibly drinkable and balanced cocktail.
Nominees
- Singapore Sling – The Singapore Sling is an amazing mix flavors that creates something similar to fruit punch. The complexity is balanced in the perfect way to enjoy them while slipping away in a hammock.
- Grog – Fans of the Daiquiri will find a lot to like here, as it’s simple to make and shows off dark rum.
Favorite Classic 2021:
The Classics are a broad and diverse group. While we had a number of standouts, the balance and depth of the winner gave it a slight edge over an impressive group of drinks.
The Winner – Cosmopolitan
We selected the Cosmopolitan as the winner for the simple fact that it is incredibly balanced. When you think of a perfect margarita, the play of sweet, acidic, and boozy matches perfectly. The Cosmopolitan in it’s original form is very much this same outcome, and we encourage you try one in it’s original spec to understand how this drink spread so effectively.
Nominees
- The Bebbo
- The Preakness
- 20th Century
- The Vesper
Favorite Original Cocktail 2021:
This category is a bit like ranking your children. The entire process is a bit strange and uncomfortable. While they’re all great, we felt one in particular had an edge.
The Winner – Apple Spice Harvest
The balance of fresh apple and floral scotch is intoxicating and well balanced thanks to lemon. It does a beautiful impression of some of the best parts of fall, and is refreshing enough to enjoy over and over again.
Nominees
- I Got A Rock
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry
- Chocolate Covered Strawberry Hot Chocolate
- Rudolph’s Nose
Most Impressive Spirit 2021:
This category collects the spirits that most impressed us in their flavors and versatility. Some of these spirits are listed for their ability to add dynamic character to a drink, while others show their strengths as modifiers.
Winner – Mezcal Vago Elote
Mezcal Vago Elote is beautifully floral with touches of smoke and woodsy notes. Bright flavors of citrus and green herbs give an amazingly complex flavor that stokes the desire to sip it on it’s own or in a cocktail. This mezcal is a great gateway to showing what mezcal is capable of – without being a smoke bomb.
Nominees
- Siete Leguas
- Bozal Ensamble
- Four Roses Single Barrel
- Crown Royal Peach
Best Value Spirit 2021:
This category is dedicated to spirits that punch above their weight for the dollars they cost. The category is quite large, so we won’t go into depth, but the general feeling is that these spirits represent a level of quality that would be expected in a bottle costing at least 30% more.
Winner – Wild Turkey 101
Wild Turkey 101 is one of the most impressive bourbons available for the price. It packs an amazing amount of quintessential bourbon flavor in for only around $20. Not only does it have incredible flavors that work well for cocktails, but it also is widely available. This combination make it one of the most recommendable bourbons that often sneaks under the radar for many folks new to the world of bourbon. This is important because the bourbon scene is positively mad at the moment, with some secondary markups on bottles being up to 50x their original MSRPs.
Runners Up
These selections deserved something more than a nomination, and just missed out to Wild Turkey for the win.
- Maker’s Mark Cask Strength – This is more of everything you love from Makers Mark at less than double the price. If you’re a fan of the original, then you owe it to yourself to try this for around $40.
- Lustau Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva – Cognac is not cheap, and cheap brandy tastes, well, cheap. Lustau manages to split the difference, providing a complex depth of flavor with a budget friendly price in the low $20 range. This is an easy step up from bottom shelf brandies that will massively improve your cocktails.
- Doorly’s X.O. Rum – At around $20, Doorly’s X.O. is everything that Kirk and Sweeney 12 wished it could be. Vanilla and caramel drive things, while complex notes of spicing and nuttiness add layers. Definitely worth a try if you have a Total Wine nearby.
Nominees
- Four Roses Single Barrel
- Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ #1
- Eagle Rare 10 Year
- Goslings Black Seal Rum
- Glenlivet 12
- Sobieski Vodka
Most Disappointing Cocktail 2021:
This dubious honor has been reserved for classics. These drinks fell short of the mark, and were generally not what we’d want to drink (or subject our guests to). Try at your own risk.
The Algonquin – Winner
The Algonquin wins thanks to the number of times I’ve made this drink over the past decade, and hated it uniformly. In dedication to sharing the classics, we’ve posted it again. However, dry, rye, pineapple concoctions don’t work for me, and I wish you a better experience than I’ve had.
Nominations:
- Barbara West – Barbara West wins the award of being the most boring cocktail that I’ve run across. Nothing here stands out or draws you back, but it is in fact, a cocktail.
- Blackthorn (Irish Version) – Unlike the Barbara West, there’s nothing boring going on with the Blackthorn. This cocktail is wildly inconsistent, and ranges across the flavor spectrum without ever reaching anything approaching balance or harmony. Just a crazy mix of flavors.
Most Disappointing Spirit 2021:
I debated this category when putting together this list. Suffice it to say that we felts a special level of shame was reserved for certain spirits we experienced this year. Given it was such a short list, it speaks to the general quality out there.
The Winner – Elijah Craig Straight Rye
Elijah Craig Straight Rye was much hyped and took it’s sweet time getting here to Ohio. The end result is a rye that’s been extensively hyped and branded, but punches below it’s cost (even from it’s own distilling group). It’s $5-10 more expensive than Rittenhouse Rye but not as rich or spiced, and $10-15 less expensive than Pikesville which provides a higher proof and deeper, more complex flavor profile.
Nominations:
The Dubliner – Really all of the Irish Whiskey we’ve tried and written up haven’t impressed, but the Dubliner takes the distinction this year. It doesn’t commit any particularly serious transgression, but is remarkably unremarkable. We’re almost back to Irish Whiskey season, so please send me your recommendations!
Honorable Mentions:
We wanted to call out two different spirits that haven’t received any formal coverage on the site, but that we felt were among the best things we drank this year.
Little Book 2
Willett Rye 4 Year Family Estate
