Over the course of my first year at University I set myself a little task at finding the best looking and the best tasting drink, that would be perfect for a night cap. Sounds a bit like binge drinking, however with student life comes student responsibilities. After doing my work I would sit down watch an episode of Alias or Battlestar Galactica (no geek jokes please) and pour myself a nice drink before going off to bed. The whole process was an enjoyable one, to say the least, and these are my interesting and yet well thought out results.
So I’ve drank everything from Larger, to Ale, to Liquor, Champagne, Whiskey, and loads more spirits that I dared to try. Some were a grave mistake however when mixed were a concoction of brilliance. Mixing Ouzo with lemonade or Jägermeister with energy drink they were like icing on a cake, the gravy on my Yorkshire puddings. I fear to think how much of my student loan was actually used, however not all is lost as 40% of the bottles I collected were from other people (all are mentioned at the end).
So what brands did I actually try, the list would be far too long therefore I’m just going to mention the better ones, sorting the men from the boys, brace yourself: Sambuca (with lemonade), Jägermeister (with energy drink), Glenfiddich, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Ouzo (mixed to make black jack), Bell’s, Southern Comfort, Smirnoff, Martini, Bollinger (1860 something!), Black Absinthe, Jacques Cider, Teachers, Underberg, Tsingtao, Morgan Spice (which we also made Sangria with), Barcardi Apple, Budweiser, Corona, Stella, Tuborg, Guinness (8%), San Miguel etc.
After much thought I narrowed down my favorite looking bottles, this has nothing to do with a night cap however it’s like… when you’re buying a car you’ll only test drive the ones you think look the nicest then decided which one is the best of the best. After much thought I decided that I see larger and ale bottles far too often, and living in the North they’re less of a commodity and more of a necessity. Being a true Yorkshire man I decided that all Wine, Champagne and forms of Vodka cannot win thus avoiding being beaten by my manly friends. However from my prospective these were the best outright: Jägermeister, Glenfiddich, Jack Daniels, Sambuca, Jim Beam and Southern Comfort In taste and in looks. However the winner for best looking bottle has to be Southern Comfort, unlike the ridiculous new advertisement campaign, calling it SOCO is like calling the Queen a needless peasant.
So here comes the most important part, which taste better, which one is worthy of being number one, which is the most pleasing to drink before calling it a day. They are all excellent in there own ways, either it be an excellent scotch or mind blowing Jager bomb (Jägermeister in a shot glass dropped into a cup of energy drink). As I plan to sleep after a night cap a Jager bomb is all but relevant, however I would recommend it as that early drink before setting off for a night on the town as you will need that extra energy for fighting that guy who looked at you funny or trying to eat that kebab without spilling sauce on your blood stained t-shirt . So after much deliberation between myself and myself, I decided that the 
perfect night cap, from my prospective would be a glass of Whiskey. Which one depends, on the price, taste and volume and therefore the winner has to be Glenfiddich. Glenfiddich comes with a minimum of 12 years, It’s one of Britain’s finest, such elegance and taste are a celebration of brilliance. Jack Daniels however is also a great Whiskey however for the little extra pricing Glenfiddich is the cherry on top of the icing, the mint sauce on top of my gravy and therefore is now named as my perfect night cap.
Alcoholic typography, all my bottles can be found on Matt Davey’s Flickr page, thanks to Matt for supplying a number of bottles and for taking such excellent pictures of them.
Also thanks to Ashley Blakeston and Robbie Bird who also suppled a number of bottles.
