Finding a high-quality banana liqueur is no easy feat so when we finally got our mitts on a bottle of giffards banane du brsil, we were over the moon. We tested tons of cocktails as an excuse to get more of that rich, sweet, banana-bread flavor. The monkey man is our favorite of the bunch by far, with its lovely vanilla-cinnamon-oak flavors. The monkey man was created in response to a challenge from imbibe magazine. Jim kearns at the happiest hour bar in new york was tasked with inventing a drink based on monkey man by toots and the maytals, one of his favorite reggae songs. He chose a tennessee whiskey, george dickel 12, for its banana-tinged undertones, but its still quite good with a more oak-and-vanilla bourbon like makers mark.