The arrival of warm weather means it’s time for refreshing summer cocktails – and we have just the cocktail for you…
Whisky sure is great when served neat during the colder months, but as things turn warmer, put that dram away and instead go grab yourself a rocks glass – ‘cuz it’s time to use some whisky for mixing up something refreshing.
Forty Creek Distillery‘s latest release is called The Forager – a ‘botanical whisky’ that takes characteristically super-smooth Canadian whisky and infuses it with hand-harvested ‘foraged’ herbs and botanicals like juniper, sprice tips, mugwort, Labrador tea and sweet fern to create something truly unique.
Think about if whisky and gin got together, sparked a love affair and ultimately conceived a child. The Forager would be the 750ml bundle of joy.
The beauty of distilling Canadian whisky is that its distillers are free to be experimental and innovate, and aren’t tied down to a long laundry list of rules and regulations that other international whiskies like bourbon or scotch strictly must adhere to. The idea of a botanical whisky might be seen as sacrilegious in say, Bardstown, Kentucky, but thankfully it’s not viewed that way in Grimsby, Ontario, home to Forty Creek Distillery where The Forager was, forged by Master Blender Bill Ashburn.
Torched Botanical Whisky Fizz
Perhaps the best thing about this super refreshing little cocktail, is that apart from the whisky, and maybe the rosemary, you most likely already have its remaining ingredients on hand. Trust us, you’re going to want to grab yourself a bottle of this unique botanical whisky, pronto.
1 oz of The Forager Botanical Whisky
1 tbsp honey
2 cucumber slices
Fresh squeezed juice from half a lemon (one extra wheel sliced for garnish)
Rosemary sprig
Soda to top up
1 In a shaker, add 3-4 ice cubes. Pour in 1 oz of The Forager whisky. Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into the shaker and add one slice of cucumber. The other cucumber slice will be for the garnish.
2 Add the tablespoon of honey and shake vigorously. Strain into glass over fresh ice. Top with soda water (ideally you’ll have your glass about 2/3s full with the contents of the shaker and 1/3 will be soda.) Stir just enough to combine.
3 Using a cigar torch lighter or culinary blow torch, torch the rosemary until you smell the aroma filling the air. Add lemon wheel, cucumber slice and rosemary sprig to glass for garnish.
4 Enjoy.
Forty Creek Distillery is located at 297 South Service Rd W
Grimsby, Ontario, Canada L3M 1Y6. Visit www.fortycreek.com. For more info on the The Forager Botanical Whisky, click here. For purchase, click here. Facebook: /FortyCreekWhisky/Instagram: @wearefortycreek/
