Taste tests

I recently discovered a love for the ocassional glass of Chartreuse, the potent, flowery liquer produced by the Carthusian monastery in France. The story behind it is great... only three monks are privy to the nearly 300-year-old recipe and even there, each monk only knows a third of the whole recipe. You can get it either in the stronger green ( hence the name Chartreuse) or the milder, sweeter yellow. It is expensive and I don't think I've ever paid as much for a bottle of liquer as I did for this bottle of green Chartreuse. The regular green and yellow run around $50-$60 a bottle, and the aged "VEP" versions run $125-$150 (you know it's VEP also because it comes in a special wooden box and the bottle has the monastery's wax seal on it).

Anyhow, I recently discovered that internetwines.com will have a 25% off sale on all of its liquers from Jan. 11-27. While you can probably find most of the selection at your local liquor store, this is a good site for rarer, foreign liquers -- like the aged Chartreuse -- that can be difficult to find here.

There is one drink made at the monastery, called "Herbal Elixir," that I can't find anywhere in the States. I've found it on one Web site in London but they don't deliver to the U.S. If anyone knows where I can find this, let me know.

I was also wondering if anyone had any suggestions on a good cognac, scotch and/or Irish whiskey. That sentence sounds scary as I re-read it (trust me, I am hardly a drinker). But I'd like to see if I can take advantage of this sale to build up my home selection for company or the ocassional post-deadline relaxing drink.

Cheers.