Posts Tagged ‘Whisk(e)y’

Whether you spell it whisky or whiskey, no matter. Today is National Whisky Sour Day. To mark the occasion, we have a pair of whisky sour recipes for you, thanks to our friends at Canadian Club.

Canadian Club Sour

Canadian Club Whisky Sour

Ingredients:
1-1/2 parts Canadian Club Classic 12
Juice of half a lemon
Teaspoon of sugar

Garnish:
Maraschino cherry or lemon wedge

Preparation:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add whisky, lemon juice and sugar and shake, shake, shake. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice and garnish with a Maraschino cherry or lemon wedge.

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The folks at Canadian Club Whisky were kind enough to send me a few whisky cocktail recipes and photos and the Father's Day weekend seemed the perfect time to trot them out for you to enjoy. So cheers to all the dads out there. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.

The Millionaire’s Manhattan

The Millionaire's Manhattan

Ingredients:
1 part Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry
3 parts Canadian Club Classic 12
Maraschino cherry for garnish

Directions:
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add sherry and whisky. Shake and then strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.

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As the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails note, "...the line between educated ordering and pretension can be paper-thin." Check out their four tips for proper ordering etiquette.

My love for green Chartreuse continues to grow rapidly as I continue to discover cocktails that boast this delicious herbal liqueur. Plus, it's apparently made by monks. How cool is that? Anyway, Kaiser Penguin has posted an Improved Chartreuse Swizzle recipe that I thought was marvelous. Highly recommended.

Check out this super cool, old-school Martini Gigger advert at A Dash of Bitters. Apparently it ran in Playboy way back. Makes me want to say: Neat-o!

If you're willing to out  little effort into making your own ingredients, this Autumn Whiskey Sour from Simon Desilva-Naimji, mixologist at the c5 restaurant in the Royal Ontario Museum. You'll need to make your own spiced syrup and infused bourbon, but hell, as I'm finding out, that's a big part of the fun.

Ever wonder about all those "diswasher-safe" claims you see on just about everything nowadays? I sure do. The folks at Food & Wine ran a bunch of glassware though 20 cycles and came up with six they thought passed the test. Not sure how many they tested, but hey, I wasn't there.

Not big on champagne? Always empty-handed and self-conscious when it's time for the New Year's toast? Never fear, it's here, champagne beer. That's right, Samuel Adams is releasing a limited run champagne beer called Infinium later this month. Should be here in time for the holidays.

I found another Chartreuse recipe that also features Calvados apple brandy (which I love -- Jersey Sour anyone?) on the Globe and Mail website this week. It's called The Apple Pie and it was created by Neil Daoust Nectar Social House in Dartmouth, N.S.

Sadly, Sept. 22, marks the official end of summer – the autumn equinox – when the length of night and day are equal. So to ease the loss of the summer, ring in the season with one of the inspired cocktails below, all featuring some familiar flavours of fall.

The drinks are all named in tribute to the autumn equinox’s balanced split of day and night

The 50/50 cocktail and Russian Standard Vodka

The 50/50
This drink is a fall-fashioned twist on the classic Moscow Mule cocktail. It uses Russia’s number one premium vodka, Russian Standard. Best of all, enjoy this drink during the day or the night – or both - as an homage to the equal number of hours of sunlight and darkness on this special day.

2 oz Russian Standard Vodka infused w/ apples and cinnamon
5 oz premium ginger beer
Squeeze in a wedge of lime

1. Pour Russian Standard vodka over ice in a chilled mug or Collins glass.

2. Add 5 ounces of ginger beer and stir gently. Garnish with a squeezed wedge of lime and mint leaf.

Celestial Sphere
As the earth spins on its axis, we’ve got a cocktail sure to take your mouth for a whirl.

Celestial Sphere

It features a variety of spirits, including Xanté, a great pear liqueur from Sweden, and Lucid absinthe, the first absinthe available on the U.S. market after the 2007 lifting of the ban. Seasonal favourites, like apple cider and dried apple and pear, will make you smile, as will the delicious chocolate bitters!

1 oz Xanté pear liqueur
1 oz gin infused with dried pear and apples
1/2 oz Lucid absinthe
1 oz local apple cider
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
3 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec chocolate bitters
Ginger beer

1. Shake all ingredients well. Strain into a highball glass.

2. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with cinnamon stick and lemon peel.

The 11.09 cocktail and Flor de Caña 7 year old rum

The 11:09
Check your clock: 11:09 p.m. officially ends the summer season. It’s time to stock up on fall’s best flavours: cinnamon, nutmeg, a little brown sugar. Perfect to whip up into a delightfully delicious drink. The recipe below uses a wonderful rum, Flor de Caña from Nicaragua, to keep you warm all winter long!

2 oz Flor de Caña 7 year old rum
3/4 oz Demerara syrup
3/4 oz Rainwater Madeira
2 dashes Fees barrel aged bitters
1 whole egg

1. Dry shake all ingredients, then shake with ice and strain into a fizz glass without ice.

2. Garnish with grated cinnamon and nutmeg.

Harvest Moon cocktail and Dewar's White Label Blended Scotch Whisky

Harvest Moon
To mark the moon’s changes, we’ve got a berry-flavoured cocktail, sure to start off the autumn season right! The honey and heather notes of Dewar's Scotch blend well with Crème de Cassis and cranberry, a symbol of fall. It will put your pangs for long summer nights to rest.

1-1/4 parts Dewar's White Label Blended Scotch Whisky
1-1/2 parts cranberry juice
1/2 part Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth
1/2 part Crème de Cassis

1. Mix all ingredients in a glass filled with ice. Stir well and serve straight up in a martini glass. Garnish with a strawberry.

Ah, whisky. Or whiskey, as our Irish and U.S. counterparts will write. I've only recently begun to expand the range of my palate by trying a few different brands of Canadian whisky. In this particular case, we used Century Reserve 15 Year Old (105858, 750 mL, 30.05).

Mint sprigs make a good looking garnish, right?

Whisky Swizzle

2 oz Canadian whisky
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse

Pour ingredients into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice and stir with a swizzle stick. Serve with a straw and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Donna didn't care much for this one, but I found the combination of whisky and Chartreuse to be quite lively. The full glass of crushed ice kept the drink cold in the summer sun and the mint became refreshingly stronger as the drink dwindled. This cocktail was a very pleasant surprise.