A $30,000 Blended Scotch, A $750 Bourbon, A Classic Old School Martini & More

When in midtown, go to Donohue’s. Just make sure there’s still a space for me.T

The latest edition of What’s Tony Drinking?, which you can see at Alcohol Professor, link right over -> HERE <-, has led me to a realization — damn, my job enables me to drink some pretty amazing booze. No, it’s not the first time I’ve realized it, and I’m not going to prattle on about what a lucky so-and-so I am (although I am), and I’m also not going to pontificate about how this really is a job that requires lots of work and expertise (although it is). I’m just making an observation.

I try to write about whatever I’m drinking, whether it’s good or bad or indifferent. This week was all good stuff. I can’t say which of them was my favorite, but the one closest to my heart was the martini I had at Donohue’s, a low-key NYC institution that’s been around since 1950, and whose decor and menu haven’t changed (except for the prices) since the Nixon administration.. I’d walked past it a million times before I first set foot inside with my dad about a decade ago, and it quickly became our regular haunt. Their ham steak, with pineapple rings and maraschino cherries, is a thing of beauty, and their herring appetizer is pretty swell too. And they make some of my favorite martinis in town. Nothing fancy, just gin (Beefeater is my go-to) and (probably) a spot of vermouth, olive or twist, in a four-or-so ounce glass, the perfect size to make sure you drink the damn thing before it starts warming up. And they’ll put down the mixing glass with the remainder of your drink to enjoy at your leisure. It’s simple, straightforward, and one of the things you know you can count on in this ever-changing city.

Click that link up top to read all about the rest of the stuff I drank as well! Especially if you’re in the market for a blended Scotch that costs as much as a car….