Have you ever tried a whisky cocktail? I’m referring to something a bit more exotic than a Rusty Nail or a Manhattan. The former – simply equal parts of whisky and Drambuie together – and the latter, a concoction of rye whiskey, vermouth, and bitters, are both time-honoured classics, but it would be wrong to compare them with the more complex, complicated, and dare I say, fashionable whisky cocktails doing the rounds in today’s bars.
Whisk(e)y cocktails currently carry the buzz in the industry at present, and it’s been the case now for at least the last four to five years. Cocktails are seen as the introduction or stepping stone into whisky drinking. “Don’t like whisky? Here, have a sip of this colourful Highland Fling!” The marketing guys have been working furiously in recent years to shed the industry’s image of whisky being an older man’s drink, and so the bar and cocktail scene is where they’re targeting their message to attract a younger and more gender-balanced demographic to the category.
I concede there is a logic to it. We are in the latter (ending?) phase of the cult of the celebrity chef, and not everyone is hanging off every word and activity that the Gordon Ramsays and Marco Pierre Whites of the world get up to. In their place – at least in certain circles – we are seeing the rise of the celebrity cocktail expert. Or, to use the preferred parlance: The Mixologist.
There’s a similar connection, naturally. Just like their food-based counterparts (i.e. chefs), mixologists have to understand combining different ingredients, creating flavours, and – most importantly – achieving balance in their recipes. Of course, successful and high-profile mixologists also have to bring a lot more to the table – a degree of flair and showmanship, the gift of the gab, an encyclopaedic knowledge of every beverage and cocktail ingredient under the sun, and also a degree of sex appeal. They can’t hide out the back in the kitchen and carefully construct their work away from prying eyes. On the contrary, they are in full view of their audience and customers, and their show and delivery is as much a part of the experience as the reception and taste of the actual drink itself.
It’s no surprise that whisky – in all its forms – is being used as an ingredient in cocktails. Whether it’s the base ingredient around which other elements are framed, or whether it’s just the top dressing on a bedrock of vodka, rum and fruit, both blended and single malt whiskies are making their way into these colourful and complex concoctions.
And therein lies the rub…one half of Scotch’s marketing industry is telling us about the care, handiwork, tradition, and love that goes into making whisky, and they’re telling us to appreciate and savour its subtle, delicate flavours. Meanwhile, the other half is encouraging us to forsake all that and to throw it into a drink where all that care and delicacy will be lost amongst a sea of other ingredients.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that mixologists are obviously using cheaper, non-descript blends for their cocktails, rather than fussing over specific single malts to add to their recipes. And yet this is not the case. There are numerous interviews on the web and magazine interviews where mixologists painstakingly experiment and eventually select very specific whiskies to achieve their desired flavour profile. Personally, if I was making a cocktail with a diverse range of ingredients such as whisky, crème de cacao, sugar syrup, dark rum, Kahula, lime juice, a pinch of salt, a dash of bitters, and then topping it up with champagne, then I wouldn’t have thought too many palates would notice (much less care?) if the whisky used was a Cragganmore 10yo or a Glenlivet 12yo! And yet, those at the top of the art will swear it’s crucial. (Although, having said that, if you’re looking to inject a certain smokiness to the drink’s profile, then it follows that a specific Islay single malt is the obvious choice.)
Again, the paradox for me is the conflict in whisky ideologies. All those involved in the creation of a whisky – from the guys malting the barley at the start of the process, to the master blender finalising the recipe for the cask vatting at the end – devote their time and energy to creating a balanced, flavoursome, carefully-crafted product, for the price point they’re working to. The key words that will subsequently appear on the product’s packaging will be terms and sentiments like old, hand-crafted, time-honoured, slowly, aged, delicate, subtle, care, attention, loving, savour, and so forth. Strange that they’re prepared (even pro-active) to lose all this when they’re promoting their product for use in cocktails.
And, yet, if this is the vehicle or means by which interest and appreciation of whisky grows; if it is ultimately in the best interests of the industry and it’s good for the category, then who are we to criticise or dismiss it?
Cheers,
AD
Our local SpeakEasy in Canberra (Molly) has just won the AHA 2015 Best Cocktail Bar award. It’s a wonderful place to visit, and each time I find myself having at least one whisky cocktail, and then enjoying a fine dram or two of something special. Their clientele is broad, eclectic, across age groups and genders, and also loyal! They keep coming back for more.
Sam, Lorenzo and their band of mixologists definitely do wonderful things with their cocktails, with a great deal of consideration of which whiskies work best. I particularly enjoy how they can “tailor” a cocktail with different whiskies. Let’s take an example, their “Old Fashioned”, which was luscious using their Woodford Reserve Distillers Select, transformed with much greater complexity using a George T Stagg. Different again with a Caol Ila and its citric brightness.
I have no doubt that these cocktails are a “bridge” for many drinkers, that engender a curiosity about different whisky styles and an appreciation of fine drams, in an expertly guided setting. In this context, everyone wins.
In two other Canberra whisky bars, I have seen them using an Australian dram, Starward, as their whisky cocktail basis – and they report that many people then go on to enjoy its dark, intense, malty sweetness straight up – then experiment with other drams. Some people enjoy the whisky cocktail pre-dinner, then go on to enjoy the straight whisky with their cheese or dessert. Everyone wins again.
I suspect that many whisky cocktail drinkers are not fans of the pre-mixed RTD cans, bourbon and cola, scotch and cola, scotch and dry and others. Good cocktails are certainly not sweet and bland fizzy bombs.
Full credit to the mixologists who can create these flavoursome adventures. When they bring drinkers to appreciate the subtleties and sheer quality of their ingredients, then everyone wins.