Six digestifs, one rule: start sweet, end merciless. The lineup ran from 1868 Averna up through 110-proof Chartreuse Verte, a recipe only two Carthusian monks know at any given time. Benedictine still carries D.O.M. on every bottle, a nod to the 1510 Normandy story behind it. Four cocktails followed, closing with the Ferrari: equal parts Fernet-Branca and Campari, a pinch of salt, and nothing left to hide behind.
Seven whiskies, and the room split clean on the last one. Buffalo Trace opened the night, distilling on the same Kentucky site since 1775; Laphroaig 10 closed it, dried over peat bogs 10,000 years old. Kavalan Concertmaster, built in Taiwan in 2005, has already beaten Scotches three times its price in blind tastings. The night ended with The Kannan, a smoked Old Fashioned built on Buffalo Trace with a splash of Laphroaig.
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