Spirits of the West Vol. 2--Irish Whiskey

Thanks to all who attended the second installment of my ongoing (hopefully) series of cocktail and spirit 'educational' events.  Especially to Lindsay Ferguson of Bluenote Wine and Spirits for providing us with all that excellent Irish Whiskey from Cooley Distillery.

I just want to take a second and post the recipes for the cocktails we had with each whiskey. All three were stirred over ice and strained into chilled cocktail glasses.

First off: 

Belfast Cocktail (Old Country Manhattan)

2oz Greenore 8 year old Single Grain Irish Whiskey

1oz Sweet Vermouth

1 dash Maraschino

1 dash Absinthe

1 dash Angostura

1 dash Peychaud's

Obviously inspired by the Manhattan, I hedged a bit toward the Sazerac with the use of Absinthe and Peychaud's. 

The Greenore Single Grain (the grain being corn) behaves much like a cross between a Bourbon and a Canadian whisky, with notes of sweetness and vanilla. It really bears little resemblance to its Irish malted brethren BUT it is actually a component in it's distillery mate, the blended Kilbeggan Finest, a more traditional Irish Whiskey.

Anyhow the result reminded me a little it of a Crown Royal Manhattan, smooth, balanced, maybe a little too sweet for some in which case you'd simple back off a little on the Vermouth.

Next, the Tipperary Cocktail, it was St Patty's day after all.

1oz Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey

1oz Green Chartreuse

1oz Sweet Vermouth

A shockingly tight little tipple, I must extend mad mixology props to Hugo R. Ensslin for being to first to put this little gem (an emerald perhaps) into print in his 1916 book Recipes for Mixed Drinks. If he's the gent who came up with it, I've no idea what common thread he thought would bring these three spirits together and in equal measure to create a harmonious concoction, but he did it. The herbaceous minty flavour of the Chartreuse sings on the finish in chorus with the Sweet Vermouth without masking the malty palate of the Tyrconnell, fascinating. Again, this could prove a slighty sweet recipe for the "wave the vermouth over the glass" set, so use your Cinzano judiciously. 

and lastly, for those of you who remember your third cocktail:

The Gaelic Kir

I must cite Vancouver expat Jamie Boudreau for this little number though his is made with Scotch.

1 oz Connemara Peated 12 year Single Malt Irish Whiskey

1 oz Gehringer Brothers Cabernet-Merlot

dash simple syrup

1/4 oz Creme de Cassis

dash Peychaud's

dash Angostura.

Now, some might say that it's criminal to mix a three figure Whiskey with a one figure wine in equal measure, but this cocktail is all about the whiskey so I didn't mind using a wine whose character I wasn't worried about ruining. Herr Boudreau's logic is flawless when he points out that red wine in the guise of vermouth has been paired with whiskey for many moons and a drier Cabernet offsets the sweetness added by the cassis ans sugar. The funny thing about this one is, it still tastes like whiskey, in kind of the same way that a Negroni tastes like gin. The nose is almost erased by the wine so the peaty finish provided by the Connemara sneaks up on you a little bit, but if you liked the whiskey, you'll like the cocktail, and if you thought the whiskey was just a bit too much for you, you'll really like the cocktail because the wine and liqueur take all of the sharp edges off of the whiskey, but leave behind it's flavour components. Very satisfying.