Hochstadter’s Vatted Straight Rye Whiskey is the perfect Thanksgiving whiskey: pure, spicy, goes well with everything, and strong enough to get you through dinner with even the most whiny children or loser cousins.

Hochstadter’s is smooth to down by itself, but it plays nicely with everything. The cinnamon and molasses flavors go well with any Thanksgiving dessert. Just think pumpkin, apple, or pecan pie here, and you have an amazing desert combination even Uncle Gary won’t disparage. Forget the champagne or Riesling and just go for the rye whiskey. The people who don’t drink whiskey may complain about it, but you can drink just enough that you won’t even mind their killjoy attitude.

And for those who like the classic cocktails, there’s my latest and greatest, the Triptophan Cocktail, which is really just a room-temperature Old Fashioned with demerara sugar and a cinnamon stick. To make the Triptophan Cocktail, combine in a rocks glass:

• 1 demerara sugar cube
• 5 dashes Angostura bitters

and muddle slightly. The demerara sugar won’t dissolve all the way, but that’s okay.

Then add

• 2 oz Hochstadter’s Vatted Straight Rye Whiskey
• cinnamon stick
• orange peel

and rub the orange peel around the rim before dropping it in.

The demerara sugar adds to the Hochstadter’s molasses flavors, and the cinnamon accents the spiciness.

Seriously. This is my new Thanksgiving cocktail.