Cocktails, the libationary art!

As much as I'd love to convince you to drink some other cocktails, you've got a set of decent selections already. I'll add and reiterate.

Bourbon $25-$35 (depending on where you are assuming US) these are mixing price and all eminently sippable neat:

• Wild Turkey 101
• Elijah Craig Small batch
• Buffalo Trace
• Old Grand Dad Bottled in Bond

Tennessee whiskey (like Jack Daniels but better and about the same price):

• George Dickel

Scotch $20-$25 It will hit the note for speyside drinkers and won't break the bank:

• Chivas 12yr

Scotch $35-$50 cheap single malt you won't mind sipping after the party:

• Glenfiddich 12
• Glenlivet 12
• Bruichladdich Laddie

Irish $55-$60 not big on Irish whiskey, but I always have a bottle for the ones who insist and Jameson is frat party trash:

• Redbreast 12yr

White Rum $20-$25

• Plantation 3 stars
• El Dorado 3yr

If you feel like something with color and a bit bigger flavor,

• Appleton Signature

If I could beg you to step away from the amaretto, a boulevardier is a fine whiskey cocktail that can be adjusted easily to taste. Get you some campari and sweet (red) vermouth (carpano antica, cocchi di torino, or punt e mes) to go with the bourbon. I like a ratio of 2 bourbon to 1 campari and 1 vermouth.

I’ll weigh in here. I’m assuming that you’re using these spirits for mixing and not sipping and are looking for reasonably priced options.

My go-to mixing bourbon is Evan Williams Black Label. It’s not awesome but it’s solid and is in the $20 range.

For rum - try plantation 3 star. It has much more flavor than Bacardi and is t much more expensive.

I don’t use amaretto much but I’d probably suggest DiSorano (sp?).

Hope that helps.

Whisky is so broad I don't know how to make a single recommendation.

You've got a bunch of different varieties. You've got scotch, peated and unpeated, bourbon, rye, Canadian whisky, Irish whisky, there are whiskies from around the world.

You want bourbon recommendations? Basil Hayden is good to drink neat. I particularly like Basil Hayden Sherry Cask for sipping. Blanton's. Woodford Reserve. Eagle Rare. Four Roses. My wife likes Maker's Mark and I agree it's pretty good although that's a mixing whisky to me, as is Elijah Craig. Buffalo Trace is highly regarded. Old Forrester is good but that's for mixed drinks to me.

Scotch? Any Glen is decent. Glenlivet, Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie are all good. They are all pretty strong vanilla flavor compared to bourbon, but especially Glenlivet. I like Glenfiddich for drinking neat. Macallan is good. I'm not a fan of peated scotch, but I think Ardbeg and Lagavulin are both highly recommended.

Rye? I'm not a huge rye fan although I do like Basil Hayden rye. Sazerac and Whistlepig are both really good and probably much more highly regarded than BH.

I don't know much about Japanese whisky but my experience is that Yamazaki is good all around.

I'm afraid I have no recommendations for non-whisky as I'm mainly a whisky and a bit of vodka drinker.

You aren't looking for vodka, but for anyone else Costco red label is 100% the best bang for your buck. It's a great vodka and pretty cheap. Stolichnaya and Tito's are both good. A lot of people like Grey Goose but it's not in my top picks. But Costco is my favorite if costs were no object and it's the cheapest to boot. The blue label Costco vodka is $5 cheaper, but meh. I don't recommend other than it's a good value.

Lots of good recommendations already.

I've only made Coquito with Appleton Estates, but that's mostly because I have Appleton around during the holidays to make hot buttered rum for my wife's family. The white rums that I've had and liked have been the Plantation and Rhum Barbancourt. Like others said, you probably won't taste much of the rum.

I've never had a Godfather, but that sounds like a perfectly fine drink. I like Old Fashioneds and other drinks that follow the same bourbon plus a dash of something interesting format. I would bet that the drink will still mostly taste like whatever whiskey you use. Don't bother chasing down something special or expensive, but I would go with something good. Also, you'll still have the rest of the bottle to finish, so buy something you'll drink. If you already have a preferred bourbon or whiskey, you'll probably still like it in this drink. I would try something like Old Forester (100 proof), Four Roses, or Wild Turkey 101.

I have not had any amaretto apart from DiSorano, which I do not like.

If the rum is for coquito, Bacardi is fine. It's going to get stomped on by the other ingredients, better quality isn't going to be noticable for most.

For a godfather, if using scotch I'd go with Jonnie Walker unless you know people that would prefer a more bold scotch. With other whiskey the mid to low end is probably ok for those that don't drink a lot of whiskey. Amaretto will add a lot of sweetness. It's a spirit forward drink, so spending more on the whiskey will be the biggest improvement. Disaronno is technically not an amaretto, but commonly used as one for a higher end option, most liquor stores aren't going to have lots of options cheaper will likely be sweeter.

Bourbon I like the Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond, it is cheap and delicious.

Amaretto, Lazzaroni is good and not overpriced.

Rum I will defer to someone else, except to say I do love the Venezuelan one called Diplomatico.

For scotch whisky, the first thing you need to figure out is whether you want smoke flavor (peat) or not; peat tends to be rather love-it-or-hate-it. And personally, Godfather is way too whisky-forward for something in the Johnny Walker Red price range. As far as cheap-ish mixing whisky goes I really like Tyrconnell, which is Irish but close enough to scotch IMO and where I live it's the cheapest single malt you'll find. Single malt or blended malt is generally better than 'blended scotch' (or whatever they equivalent is for Irish whisky), because 'blended scotch' is blended with grain whisky (neutral grain liquor) while single malt and blended malt are made exclusively from pure pot-still malt whisky, which is much more flavorful. Monkey Shoulder is also pretty good and has wider distribution than Tyrconnell, and it has both peated and unpeated versions.