It’s that special time of year when I want to write about drinking sweet advent drinks, make Tom & Jerry’s or value shop for whiskies. But this year, I’m drawing my inspiration from my wife’s company holiday party — how do you plan on how to flask up for the holiday season?
I brought a flask of 10 year old Irish Whisky to the shindig. Yes, there was an open bar, but who knows what terrors that would hold? And while the man behind the stick wasn’t the “all thumbs catering rhino” that he could have been, and he did indeed pour short and he did indeed take his time.
There where only 2 “whiskies” available and a 3rd in my pocket. Here is how I would chart them.
Now think of them this way:
Fireball: pretty much only for shots, hard for people that don’t want to do shots, it os the new Jägermeister (don’t lie to yourself) also, you know, it’s NOT WHISKEY.
Maker’s Mark: always good, quality, easy to drink, easy to find, a sweeter bourbon, a gold standard but still a standard, good new is that you can find it in airports
John L Sullivan: a 10 year Irish, it’s civilized, soft, comes with a great story of and Amazing Irish American and it’s sold out forever, and in general, Irish Whisky is a starter whisky (bring the hate mail)
Now, these all have their place and time from tailgate to tablecloth but when you flask up, think twice and pour once — plan your dram.
Find the below graph for what the generalized dusty leftovers are that you may have at home.
Over the next couple weeks, leading up to all of your holiday parties, I’ll be posting several of these with different topics like scotch, mezcal or tummy-soothing amari.
This is how these spirit types are likely to be received when the flask is passed
FLASK OF THE DAY
Also, if you aren’t blessed with a dozen plus flasks, I’ll offer you some sweet tips on clandestine sipping. Also, get this event kicked off right with just having a few extra flasks on hand —here is a flask 6 pack. And here is the bandolier to hold them.
Cheers, more soon
caskstrength.wordpress.com 
Love this list but just wanted to say I’ve been absolutely bombed off Wray and Nephew as well as Smith and Cross from flask. It was fucking awesome though it probably shouldn’t be recommended. Don’t judge me and happy holidays Andrew!
Dear Andrew,
Regarding the purchase of a flask: should one consider style when selecting a reservoir for spirits? Or should the flask be purely utilitarian (such as the link above), and style only a vain attempt to construct identity? My old Stanley flask had served me well, but alas, ran off with a woman and needs to be replaced. I feel the Stanley made me feel like some sort of outdoorsman, but probably just clever marketing.
Regards,
Greg
Hey Greg, As long as it’s stainless, everything should be fine. For me, I never feel like a flask get clean enough to have more that one drink family. So you’ll need 7 or so.