It's been a while since I really used this blog mainly because I've been working a lot on the whiskySheffield blog after the mantle had been passed to me. However, as it's meant to be just about whisky it's kind of restrictive if I want to talk about other kind of drinks - which I frequently do and sometimes I just want to post up a few items without really proofing them and making them at all presentable. Also I feel that the WhiskySheffield site should be fairly impersonal and not really my own opinion of things - after all the wonderful thing about whisky is that everyone likes different stuff and no one ever agrees with any one else about what they really like. By the by what I really have been getting into today is a cocktail that I've never really considered before until (I belive it was boozedancing on twitter) posted up an option of either Negroni or Whisky. I love Negroni's - simply equal measures of Campari, Gin and sweet Vermouth (usually Red). I love Campari you see. And anything where it's a constituent component of a cocktail will always get me interested. The Campari and Gin work so well together - as does Campari and Vemouth AND as we all know Gin and Vermouth (to make a Martini) It's like the holy trinity coming together. What I didn't twig (and it's obvious if you think about it) is that if you take out the gin and replace it with whisky - Bourbon - then it becomes a Boulevardier! Or a bourbon negroni. Or a camparied up version of a Manhattan!
Here's a fairly interesting article - have a read...
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/case-study-the-boulevardier/
So what I'm left with is Campari - Sweet Vermouth (Martini Rosso) and then the whisky. But what whisky???
My natural instinct is to go through the types of bourbon and their mashbill - corn dominated ones don't seem right - perhaps too oily although they may have the sweetness, wheat dominated ones like Maker's Mark may just be too subtle and not stand up to the punishment of the bitter orange of Campari. So rye seems a good choice. So why not just a rye whisky. You get the spice - spice and bitter orange but maybe not the sweetness to act as a balance. But then if you look at it as a whisky based Negroni then spice is going to be a better bed-fella. A high proof rye will help get the flavour across but then would you want to be wasting someting like a Stagg in such an experiment?? I had a couple of ryes kicking around - the first a Bulleit 95. 95% Rye mashbill so a full on rye experience. This really did stand up to the Campari - giving it a massive bear hug and both seemed to enjoy each others company. For a first time experiment it seemed a perfect fit. The second choice was Templeton. Now this is a lot more subtle and at first the balance seemed not so good. But after a little dilution after a tiny bit of ice melt it seemed to work a little better. So round one to Bulleit. There's a Copper Fox kicking around that I think won't work at all but I'm willing to give it a go. Also the younger Sazerac, Pikesville I don't think will have the guts but I'm hoping that Rittenhouse 100 proof may give it the killer blow I'm looking for.
Will let you know.
J
