For my first cocktail of 2010, I will make a Speyside Sling.

• The earliest known printed use of the word “cocktail” was in The Farmer’s Cabinet, April 28, 1803.
• The earliest definition of "cocktail" was in the May 13, 1806, edition of the Balance and Columbian Repository, a publication in Hudson, New York.
• The first publication of a bartenders' guide which included cocktail recipes was in 1862 — How to Mix Drinks; or, The Bon Vivant's Companion, by "Professor" Jerry Thomas.
• The first "cocktail party" ever thrown was allegedly by Mrs. Julius S. Walsh Jr. of St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1917.
• During Prohibition in the United States (1920–1933), when the sale of alcoholic beverages was illegal, cocktails were still consumed illegally in establishments known as speakeasies.
• Cocktails became less popular in the late 1960s and 1970s.
• In the 1980s cocktails again became popular. 
• Traditional cocktails and gin started to make a comeback in the 2000s. 

o    Source Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocktail

There are distilleries in the Scottish countryside, in Speyside. “Speyside scotch is highly perfumed; compared to smell of carnations, roses, pear drops, violets and cream soda. They have little to no peatiness and some have a smokey odor.”  My favorite flower is the carnation, but Scotch should remind one of musty libraries, old books, and the mist on the moors, not perfume.  The following cocktail can be made with Famous Grouse.
  
Speyside Sling
Method:
Fill a highball glass with ice.
Squeeze lemon over ice and drop into shaker.
Add all ingredients apart from ginger ale and shake with ice.
Strain into glass and top up with ginger ale.

Glass Type:   Collins / Highball
Garnish: Orange Slice/Cherry
     Submitted By   Wayne Collins


    



                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                       Amount    Ingredient
1 shot(s)    Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
    Wedge of Fresh Lemon
1 shot(s)    FAMOUS GROUSE

1 shot(s)    BOLS - Cherry Brandy

top with    FEVER TREE - Ginger Ale

The popular brands of cherry brandy are Bols®, DeKuyper®, Kirschwasser® and Seagram's®.  Shopping on New Year’s eve left me with DeKuyper or Kirschwasser.  Kirschwasser had a cool label, but a plastic bottle.  It seems sanctimonious, but who wants to shell out money for a nice liquor that is sheathed in plastic.  
          
I am sharing my experience with “The Thin Man.” and my good friend Viviana tonight.  The Internet really is a cool thing.  She is home in the U. District toasting in the new year with a Charlie Chan marathon.  Viv says, "I opened my Lagavulin and it smelled like a library - fireplace smoke and old leather bindings. I'm in love... " There is nothing like a black and white flick.  The world was doomed when Technicolor was introduced.  Happy New Year One and All !
http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/the+thin+man#watch%3Dv16421747Pg382z8P
Sources:
http://www.drinksmixer.com/desc252.html
http://www.thedrinkshop.com/cocktails/cocktail_detail.php?cocktail_id=872
http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/the+thin+man#watch%3Dv16421747Pg382z8P