THOUGHTS FROM
MAGGIE KIMBERLIssue 167 | Whisky Magazine 13
I
’ve been studying whisky cocktails
for years, and I do mean studying. Afew years back I did a seven-month
long study of the Manhattan cocktailwith a colleague, in which we broke the
cocktail down into its various parts tosee how they all worked together. It was
an enlightening experience. Not onlydid I learn what goes into my favourite
Manhattan cocktail, but I also learnedhow each of the ingredients interact
with each other. Understanding howall the ingredients go together goes a
long way towards understanding howwhisky cocktails work, and what went
wrong when they don’t.Whisky can have some pretty strong
opinions. One might be loud and spicy,while another might be delicate and
sweet. Whenever I see a recipe that
βǮǯ
overdrive. My immediate response isto analyse the other ingredients in the
recipe and extrapolate based on myknowledge of certain whiskies which
one might work well in the recipe.The people who write recipes
don’t always know what’s going tobe available to the reader, so they
keep it general in order to make therecipe more widely accessible. To the
untrained eye, however, a classic 2-1-Manhattan recipe can turn into an
unexpected disaster. The whisky youchoose to pair with a certain vermouth
can be exquisite or it can be a disaster.The bitters are your spice rack, and
depending on which one you chooseyou can overseason or underseason
your cocktail.The professionals making drinks
in high end whisky bars already have
βknowledge base, so they can take a call
for a certain brand of whisky and knowwhich vermouth and which bitters are
going to play best.For old cocktail recipes, a lot has
ǤǮǯmeasurement that translates to two
ounces, but if you aren’t a seasonedbartender you may not realise that
when you read a recipe from the 1800s,which could lead to some strong and
unbalanced cocktails.
Bartenders use the knowledge they
have gained on the job to give you thebest experience possible, but they also
use this knowledge to build and createrecipes, old and new, based on recipes
or completely original.Starting with a whisky base is tricky
because you have to tailor the otheringredients. While spirits like vodka
βfrom brand to brand, swapping one out
for the other is unlikely to drasticallyβ
Ǥǡ
other hand, varies by style, producer,bottling proof, mash bill, and more. If
you use Japanese whisky in place ofBourbon or rye whiskey in place of
Scotch you might be in for a surprise.A bartender’s job is to make sure
that you enjoy your drink, so don’t
be offended if you ask for something
β
ensure you are going to be getting whatyou want. They are doing the maths in
their head as you order to ensure theend product is enjoyable.
When you have a bartender youtrust, you can ask them to make
something a little different based onyour tastes. Bartending is like applied
chemistry class, and yes, there’s alsoβǤ
There’s an art to remembering whateach ingredient tastes like and also to
understanding what you are tastingwhen you try something new. Building
drinks from scratch was somethingǮ
ǡǯ
but I’m glad it made such a strong andlasting comeback. I’m happy to wait
ten minutes for an exceptional cocktail.What’s the hurry, anyway?
In order to appreciate the process,try making your own whisky cocktails
at home. Experiment with differentproducts in different combinations and
notice the differences.The combinations are of course
endless, but you will eventuallydiscover you have preferences.
Once you have a good feel for thecomplexity of whisky drinks, be
sure to visit your local whisky barand talk to the bartender. Take some
time to order a really good drink andwatch it being made. It really adds to
your appreciation of the process, tounderstanding of the hard work and
thoughtfulness that goes into a reallygreat whisky cocktail.
Take some time to
order a really good
drink and watch it
being made
IN PR AISE OF WHISKY COCKTAILS
The bartender’s calling is one to be admired
013 - MaggieColumn-WM 167 .indd 13 09 / 04 / 2020 09 : 17