Content was originally created in collaboration with The Whistler Irish Whiskey. Views and opinions are my own.

I recently did some cocktail development and photography work for The Whistler Irish Whiskey, a new whiskey expression from Ireland’s Boann Distillery. At this family-run distillery, the master distiller, beekeeper and master blender all came together to craft a whiskey-based “trilogy” that showcases some of the finest whiskey, smoothest honey and freshest cream Ireland has to offer.

I put together three different cocktail recipes for The Whistler, each one featuring a different bottle.

This first recipe highlights their flagship whiskey: Whistler Double Oaked.

This whiskey has been aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso sherry casks. It has flavors of creamy vanilla, dry oak and a hint of honey on the finish make it a delicious sipping whiskey, but I decided to try it out in this refreshing summer highball.

Double Oaked Highball

ingredients:

1½ oz The Whistler Double Oaked Irish Whiskey
½ oz fresh lemon juice
½ oz Apricot liqueur
3-4 dashes teapot bitters
Top with soda water or sparkling wine

instructions:

Combine ingredients (except the bubbles) and shake with ice.

Strain into a highball or Collins glass over fresh ice.

Top with bubbles and garnish with a lemon twist.

Best served with a reusable straw.

Next up is the Whistler Irish Honey.

Boann’s Distillery collaborated with their family beekeepers, taking their finest ex-bourbon barrel matured Irish whiskey and infusing it with honey, harvested from their own family orchards– how cool is that?!

I’ve been on a cobbler kick this summer (the cocktail, not the dessert– but that sounds good too!) so I decided to pair Whistler Irish Honey with some amontillado sherry.

Irish Honey Cobbler

ingredients:

1 ½ oz The Whistler Irish Honey
¾ oz Amontillado sherry
¼ oz fresh orange juice
¼ oz fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cinnamon syrup
Fresh mint and an orange wheel for garnish

instructions:

Combine ingredients and shake with ice.

Strain into a rocks glass over crushed ice.

Garnish with an orange wheel and fresh mint.

Top with crushed ice as necessary.

Best if served with a reusable straw.

Last but not least, meet the Whistler Irish Cream.

This cream liqueur uses fresh Irish cream from grass fed cows, and is apparently the first to use Single Pot Still Irish whiskey in the blend. The result is a cream liqueur with plenty of depth and really nice whiskey undertones.

A blended cocktail isn’t really my “usual” thing, but it’s summertime… might as well put that blender to good use!

Irish Cream Frappé

Recipe makes 2 large cocktails

ingredients:

2 oz The Whistler Irish Cream
1½ oz The Whistler Double Oaked
1½ oz Amaro Lucano
4 oz cold brew
1 cup of ice
Fresh grated nutmeg for garnish

instructions:

Blend ingredients until smooth.

Pour into two large cocktail glasses.

Top with freshly grated nutmeg and/or coffee beans.

More cocktail recipes to check out:

High-Proof Preacher Blog

Pineapple Demerara Old Fashioned

The Old Fashioned meets… well… Pineapple! The star ingredient in this cocktail is Pineapple Demerara syrup- and it’s definitely worth making! The syrup itself can be a bit inconsistent, so you may need to adjust the amount you add to the cocktail to properly balance it.

Husband Material

This cocktail is made with high-proof bourbon (I used Old Granddad 114 but Coopers’ Craft Barrel Reserve was really nice too), a touch of quality vanilla liqueur and Rosato amaro; a bittersweet liqueur with fresh and fruity aromas of hibiscus and orange blossom. I also added some tropical spice bitters, but you can just as easily sub in aromatic bitters.

Islay Daiquiri

The Daiquiri is the perfect island drink, so I love the idea of making a version that uses Islay Scotch: whisky that is made on the Scottish island of Islay.

3 Cocktail Recipes with The Whistler Irish Whiskey

I recently did some cocktail development and photography work for The Whistler Irish Whiskey, a new whiskey expression from Ireland’s Boann Distillery. At this family-run distillery, the master distiller, beekeeper and master blender all came together to craft a whiskey-based “trilogy” that showcases some of the finest whiskey, smoothest honey and freshest cream Ireland has to offer.

Limited to Bi-Planes

Is it a Manhattan riff? Or is it a Sazerac riff? Both? I don’t really know, but honestly I’m just really enjoying the rye whiskey / cognac split base in cocktails lately.

Cardamaro Vino Amaro is also an interesting bottle (I find mine at the grocery store). It’s sort of a fortified wine, but it’s also sort of an amaro. If you can get your hands on a bottle, definitely give it a shot and use it like you would a vermouth.

Old Fashioned

Back in the day, it was just referred to as a cocktail, consisting of some sort of spirit, sugar, water and bitters. As drinking culture developed, the word cocktail came to refer to any sort of mixed drink. To get this now classic concoction, people had to ask their bartender specifically for “an old fashioned cocktail.”

Boulevardier

Personally, the Boulevardier is my go-to cocktail for batching. Since it calls for equal-parts of each of the three ingredients, it’s super easy to scale up and make in large quantities. The Boulevardier also tends to be favored by people who aren’t usually cocktail drinkers– vs. the Negroni which can come off as a bit abrasive the first time you try it.

Sazerac

The origins of the Sazerac go way back to the early 1800’s, so the exact specs have undoubtedly changed in that amount of time. Early on it was made with brandy or cognac before bartenders started subbing in rye whiskey (which was a little more plentiful in the US). Lately, I’ve been enjoying splitting the base and using both cognac and high-proof rye.

Timberbeast

Infusing spirits always makes me kinda nervous because I’m never 100% sure it’s going to work out. If it turns out bad or just not up to my personal standards, I feel like I wasted a bottle.