Does the quality of the liquor you are using matter for mixed drinks? I am guessing it would for a drink that only has one, like the Martini, but what about drinks that have multiple liquors in them?
It depends on how many liquors are in there and how strongly it's flavored. Doesn't matter much for a long island iced tea or hurricane, but it does for say a margarita or rusty nail. Even the sazerac, which only uses a few drops of absinthe, benefits significantly from a good one, though the quality of whisky or cognac matters more.
(Though I always keep a bottle or two or Cruzan or Don Julio hidden for people I like that know better.)
I agree whole heartedly!!!! If you have to mix it, then you really don't appreciate the flavor anyway, so why drink it. IMO...JRI don't really do mixed drinks in general, but they are pretty much all the same to me. Evan Williams and Coke, Jack and Coke, Woodford Reserve and Coke, etc. I can't really say i taste much difference. On their own however, is a whole different ballgame. To each his own though. If it works for someone, go for it! It's not my money
Jawaburger said it best. Keep the expensive stuff for drinking neat, and use the medium range for quality drinks.I used to work at a restaurant where we carried Louis XIII cognac, which sold for about $100 a drink, and we had a running joke about ordering a Louis and Coke.
On that note, I usually go for medium priced liquors for mixed drinks instead of the cheap or expensive ones. You can taste cheap liquor even in a mixed drink, but the subtleties that make a liquor expensive can be lost when you add mixers, IMO.