What I’m Drinking: This Morning, Like the Spirit of a Youth with Redwood Empire
I recently received a bottle of Redwood Empire whiskey, made by Graton Distillery, in the mail (don’t be mad), and made this very scrumptious cocktail right here. As you might expect, Redwood Empire is made up in Northern California, near the trees of its name. What you might not expect, or know, is that it’s a blend of whiskeys, intriguingly enough. A blend of house-distilled rye (60%), and four, five, and eleven-year-old bourbons (40%), all aged in charred American Oak, and with some of the rye aged in port and wine barrels, too. Wowsa, that’s almost hard to keep track of, but how creative. It’s like an artist’s collage. But you wouldn’t want to drink that, hahaha!
The nose has a nice vanilla-y sweetness along with spices like cloves, cinnamon, and a little citrus. The taste unfolds a little bourbon sweetness, but also rye spiciness and a bit of pepper, with nice vanilla and caramel swirling throughout. A fine, and intriguing (as mentioned!) blend that rises up to become its own animal. Sip it, and see.
And then make this drink! I couldn’t – of course – not try it in cocktails, and after some thought and playing around, made a strategic choice to keep the number of ingredients small, just two accents to highlight the whiskey. First, I made my own intriguing choice, Seattle Distilling Company’s fantastic coffee liqueur. I just thought its richness and brown-sugar-y sweetness would play well with the whiskey’s personality. And I was right! But I felt we needed some strong herbal undertoning, though, and so brought in a new favorite I feel I’ll be sipping lots: Cynar 70. About twice the proof of regular Cynar (if you don’t know, a popular Italian amaro made from artichokes), it delivers a combo of cocoa, bitter botanicals, and deep herbal-ness, with a touch of sweetness. Everything together: yummy! Strong and yummy, and would wake you up nicely on a cold morning. But it goes smoothly at night, too.
This Morning, Like the Spirit of a Youth
Cracked ice
2 ounces Redwood Empire American whiskey
1/2 ounce Seattle Distilling Company coffee liqueur
1/2 ounce Cynar 70
1. Fill a cocktail shaker or mixing glass halfway full with cracked ice. Add everything. Stir well.
2. Strain into a cocktail glass. Enjoy.
