Four Riffs On Whiskey Cocktails Using Alternate Spirits

By Richard Thomas

I can’t say how the hottest year on record is treating you, but late summer in my parts of the Bluegrass have soared to 97+ degrees Fahrenheit with roughly 60% humidity. So very hot and not actually steamy, but just sticky is bad enough when the mercury soars that high. It’s definitely time to set aside even whiskey on the rocks and go for chilled cocktails. To make a whiskey fan’s late summer more interesting, make those cocktails riffs on the whiskey cocktail classics by using not-whiskey as the main spirit. Here are some ideas:

The Botanist Islay Cask Aged Gin Manhattan

The essence of this riff I came to after earlier experiments with The Botanist’s Rested Gin is to exploit the longer barrel aging of this version for the rye whiskey one should use in a rosemary-smoked Manhattan. The botanicals and Islay peaty smoke enhancement make for a solid substitute-cum-riff here. Given the desired play for the herbal and smoke elements, it’s necessary to dial back the vermouth component to half what would be used in a classic Manhattan.

Ingredients:

• Fresh rosemary sprigs
• 2 oz The Botanist Islay Cask Aged Gin
• 2 dash’s of Angostura aromatic bitters
• 1 oz sweet vermouth

Torch the rosemary and cap it with a mixer, to capture the smoke. In a separate mixing glass, mix all the other ingredients. Pour that into the smoked glass, then cap and roll to mix the smoke in. Add some ice to chill the mixture, then strain and pour into a rocks glass/tumbler with a single large ice cub. Garnish with a leftover sprig of rosemary.

Aged Rum Vieux Carre
There was a time in the history of New Orleans when its drinks would have undoubtedly been more associated with rum coming from the Caribbean than the whiskeys coming down the Mississippi River. That is the inspiration for this particular riff, and it doubles down on that French colonial connection by reaching for some cognac too.

Ingredients:

• Absinthe
• 1.5 oz of aged rum
• 1 oz of cognac
• 0.5 oz simple syrup
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• 3 dashes lavender bitters
• Lemon peel

Start by rinsing the inside of a chilled cocktail glass with the absinthe. Stir the remaining ingredients together with ice in a mixer, then strain into the cocktail glass. Twist with the lemon peel over the glass to express the citrus oils over the drink, then discard the peel.

Storywood Anejo Tequila Old Fashioned
This is a solid riff on a whiskey cocktail using an alternate spirit, as suited to Cinco de Mayo as it is to occasions that might have called for a mint julep. The tequila is aged not in an old bourbon barrel, but for 14 months in an old Scotch cask, giving a quite different direction for the base spirit.

Make this one the same way as you would for a classic Old Fashioned, but in place of the orange peel and cherry, use a couple of nectarine slices instead.

The Grapefruit Julep
Given it’s Kentucky, bourbonized association, most folks don’t know that the earliest references to the Julep don’t actually call for it to be made with bourbon. According to David Wondrich, the original spirit of choice for a Julep was cognac. Keeping that on mind–and I say this as a born and bred Kentuck–the Julep cries out for riffing. I’ve reached for this particular spin ever since the first time I tried it, especially since I always seem to have a bottle of the requisite vodka on hand for reasons unknown.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz vodka
• 1 lime quarter
• 0.75 oz freshly squeezed pink grapefruit juice
• 0.5 oz honey
• At least two sprigs of fresh pepper or spearmint.

Combine all ingredients except the honey into a mixer, and only then add the honey and stir. Add crushed ice and shake. Strain into the julep cup. Add a sprig of mint as a garnish.