BenReich Whisky Cocktails - Whisky sour recipes you can make at home

I do love a good whisky but what I love most is how versatile it is, there’s drams you can enjoy neat, those that demand a dash of water and some enjoyed with a couple of cubes of ice but what really pushes whisky into the No1 spirit is it’s use within cocktails. Here we experiment with BenRiach’s Original and Smokey 10-year-old single malt to make some simple cocktails that you can copy at home. 

I won’t be using egg white for these sours, instead I will be using aquafaba, which is the water found in a tin of chickpeas (sounds weird but it works). This stuff is a perfect vegan option or for those who are a bit grossed out with a raw egg in their drink. Drain the water from a tin of chickpeas and stick it to the side, but don’t waste those chickpeas! Make yourself a simple hummus and it will be a perfect dipping companion for your whisky cocktail and snack of choice.

If you have a cocktail shaker great, if not find a small container that you can shake the ingredients up in. Also, you can easily make your own sugar syrup by adding a couple of tablespoons of caster sugar to around 100ml of water, stick it in the microwave until it has all dissolved. When using your own sugar syrup start off with a little in the mixture as you can always add more if you need to up the sweetness. 

 

The New York Sour

I will be using BenRiach’s new 10-year-old single malt for this, it has been aged for 10 years in bourbon, sherry and virgin oak casks so you can expect fruity and sweet notes which will mix perfectly with the ingredients of the NY Sour.  

Ingredients

• 50Cl BenRiach Original 10yr old
• 25Cl Red wine
• 25CL fresh lemon juice
• 25Cl of sugar syrup
• 25Cl of Aquafaba (Chickpea water) or ½ Egg white

Method 

If you are using Aquafaba then you need to get that nice and airy, to do so remove the spring from your cocktail strainer, stick it into the cocktail shaker along with the aquafaba and give it a damn good shake. 

Now add a handful of ice, the Benriach original 10, fresh lemon juice and your sugar syrup to the foamed up Aquafaba (if you are using eggs then add your egg white now).

Give that thing a good hard shake until there is a nice frost layer on the shaker, but don’t shake it for too long or you will end up watering out your cocktail, or even worse turn your egg to meringue. 

Give it a taste, it should be a nice balance of sour and sweet. Next pure that liquid gold via a strainer into a short glass stacked with ice, then slowly pour the red wine over a spoon and watch it mix like a lava lamp.

 

 

Classic Smokey Sour

For my second cocktail, I will be using BenRiachs new10-year-old smoky whisky, being aged for 10 years in bourbon, virgin oak and Jamaican rum casks this will help add some oomph to the classic whisky sour.

Ingredients 

• 50Cl BenRiach Smoky 10yr old
• 25Cl Amaretto
• 25Cl Fresh lemon juice
• 25cl sugar syrup

Method

If you are using Aquafaba then you need to get that nice and airy, to do so remove the spring from your cocktail strainer, stick it into the cocktail shaker along with the aquafaba and give it a damn good shake.

Now add a handful of ice, the Benriach Smokey 10, fresh lemon juice, amaretto and your sugar syrup to the foamed up Aquafaba (if you are using eggs then add your egg white now). 

Give that thing a good hard shake until there is a nice frost layer on the shaker, but don’t shake it for too long or you will end up watering out your cocktail, or even worse turn your egg to meringue. 

Now give it a taste, it should be a nice balance of sweet & sour with a kick of smoke, if it needs more sour add some more lemon, more sweet then add a bit more amaretto. 

Pour through a strainer into a glass filled with ice and enjoy.

Let me know if you had a go at making these cocktails and what your favourite whisky cocktail is in the comments below.

 

Thanks for reading.