Saint Brendan's

Cream Liqueur
Purchase Price: $9
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 8.6

This was Bargain of the Year for 2006, and the ensuing years have not seen its stature diminished in any way. Supposedly this was conceived as a "clone" of Bailey's, and while that might not seem such an admirable goal in theory, in practice it works just fine. Every bit as lush and creamy as Bailey's for just about half the price. Over a few ice cubes it's simply unbeatable as a dessert bridging the meal and the Scotch. I'm a bit of a name-brand snob myself, but this is just too good a bargain to stroll by looking the other way. Buy a bottle by next Tuesday and on Wednesday morning you'll be emailing me your sincere thanks. ;-)

Sylk

Cream Liqueur
Purchase Price: $8
Place of Purchase: Warehouse - New York, NY
Rating: 2.2

The people up at Drambuie decided to mix together their flagship brand with some Irish Cream. Why? Ask them. Then they gave it the same exact name as a product that, and I quote from their website, “is a natural sexual enhancement product to help women who suffer from vaginal dryness.” Nice synergy there, laddies!!

As for me, I've never liked Drambuie so it makes perfect sense that I would buy something in which said liqueur is a prominent ingredient, right? It must have been the eight dollar asking price. This tastes strange in a bad way, like milk from last Christmas and now it’s April Fool’s Day. In fact it’s such a “foolish” product I could see it being used as the bait some practical joker might serve you while cameras whirred to see you spit it up for the delight of a television audience on a show like “Punk’d” or “Candid Camera.” Do yourself a favor and don’t sign the release form.