When the tequila is flowing, did you ever notice how wild the night gets? How rum seems to bring on tropical island abandon? How whiskey inspires a confessional mood? How cognac calms the festivities, while vodka amps them up? Is there any substance to these sweeping characterizations? Or is it just folklore?
Late R&B crooner Roy Milton certainly seemed convinced. “Whiskey makes you frisky,” he sang in his famous Bartender’s Boogie. “Gin makes you sin… wine makes you nice… tequila makes you want to fight.” (Friends might add the lyric: “Tequila to kill ya.”)
Although there’s no scientific evidence to back any of this up, I’ve always bought into it. “People will attribute certain effects to various spirits,” says cocktail historian David Wondrich, “but it’s really only the expectation talking.” Wondrich, author of Imbibe! From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, believes it’s the story of the spirit that informs the experience of drinking it. “Tell people it’s tequila in their glass, and they’re primed to go wild,” he says. “Tell them it’s rum, and they think of the tropics. Let’s party!”
Whether it’s more about what’s in the mind than what’s in the glass remains a mystery for now. Give in to the story by sipping one of the great dark or light spirits, some of the most exciting on the market, listed here.
