Ginger Liqueur and Mezcal Are Top-Shelf Selections for Doug Frost

Wine aficionados are no stranger to Master of Wine Doug Frost, who will lead a vertical Old World-new world comparison tasting at a four-course wine dinner at Monarch this month. But as a master sommelier, the K.C.-based wine consultant is also an expert on spirits, so we asked him to weigh in on which liquors intrigue him at the moment:

Domaine de Canton. This French liqueur built from cognac, baby ginger, vanilla, honey and ginseng tops Frost’s list. It’s not new but has only been available in Missouri for roughly six months. “While a few cocktailians out there have put it to good use, not enough of them have gotten with the program,” commented Frost, who is also founding partner of Beverage Alcohol Resource, a spirits and cocktail educational organization whose graduates include St. Louis’ celebrated mixologist Ted Kilgore.

Del Maguey Tobala Mezcal 2009. Made from a wild, mountain-grown tobala variety of maguey, Frost considers the ’09 as “tightly wound as the 2008 and perhaps even more mineral-laden.” Good luck getting your hands on this single-village artisanal spirit, although The Wine Merchant does have a few bottles of triple-distilled Del Maguey Pechuga, another of the label’s sought-after single-village mezcals. A raw chicken breast (pechuga) is suspended in the still during its final distillation, apparently the secret to balancing the complex, fruity aromatics of wild mountain apples and plums, red plantains and pineapple in this very special, very pricy elixir.