Tips For Summertime Whiskey Drinking

By Richard Thomas

Summer is around the corner, and with it sweltering summer heat. Although I know some will argue this with me, the season is not the best time for whisk(e)y drinking. Whether they be subtle or full-bodied, the better whiskies lose some of their luster as the mercury rises in the thermometer. Truth be told, your top shelf sippers will be wasted if you pour them in mid-August.

The most obvious solutions to the summer doldrums is to go for a cold cocktail or an icy mixer, but neither choice is wholly satisfactory for an enthusiast. Although plenty of whisk(e)y fans enjoy a good cocktail, it’s not the same thing as having a straight pour. For their part, mixers are usually done with the cheap stuff, and no lover of fine bourbon or Scotch wants to rely on cheap stuff for three months.

1. Go Cold: Whiskey has a warming effect, is even noted for this, and there are only two ways to combat it: go cold or go sit in the cold. Assuming you would rather be out on the veranda and not in an air conditioned cocoon, that means taking one of two steps: either chill your bottle in the refrigerator or pour on the rocks (maybe both).

Before a purist turns his nose up and starts huffing, keep in mind that the whiskey which became Rare Breed reputedly started out as the stuff Jimmy Russell used to keep in his refrigerator for just this very reason. I can’t even begin to count the number of master distillers and blenders across the Pond I’ve seen drinking their own stuff on ice.

2. Go Young: The problem with going cold is that it tends to dull complex and sophisticated flavor profiles. One answer to that is to not bother with the complicated whiskeys, and instead choose the young stuff. For this reason, summertime is when craft whiskeys in particular shine, because the chilling can take some of the rough edges off their youth and leave the best parts of their personality.

3. Go Big And Bold: Instead of going for younger whiskey, you might choose to up the proof instead. A big bodied whiskey can definitely withstand some chilling and retain its full character, to say nothing of a little dilution from melting ice.

4. Go Fruity: The problem with mixers is that Coke, ginger ale and idiosyncratic soft drinks like Ale-8-One tend to overwhelm the whiskey. It’s the same problem with cocktails, in fact, which is fine if that is what you want. However, sometimes what you want is whiskey, not a drink with some whiskey in it.

One way to jazz up your cold whiskey a little, but without turning it into something else, is to add a little fruit. Some limes don’t turn your Mexican beer into something other than beer, right? Stone fruits and berries are best, so try apricots, blackberries, cherries, peaches and plums.