When you hear “single malt,” your mind likely goes straight to Scotches — and certainly, Scotland has been producing some of the best known single malt whiskeys for hundreds of years. But a growing interest in whiskey in the US has kicked off a wave of American distilleries producing their own American Single Malts, which were recently ratified into a category of their own by the US government’s Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau.
To celebrate the recognition of this category, American single malt producer Balcones crafted their own cocktail — called, of course, Sweet Ratification. It’s a pecan-packed nutty taken on the Old Fashioned, and along with a couple of other cocktail suggestions, these are the perfect way to cheer on this new and emerging whiskey style for National Whiskey Day.
Sweet Ratification
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces Balcones Texas 1
- ½ ounce pecan syrup
- 3 dashes aromatic bitters
- Garnish: dehydrated orange wheel, cinnamon stick, 1 pecan halve
Method:
- Add ice into the rocks glass.
- Add whisky, pecan syrup, and bitters. Stir until the glass is chilled.
- Garnish with dehydrated orange wheel, cinnamon stick, and pecan.
Grapefruit Highball
Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ ounces Balcones Lineage
- 4 ounces grapefruit soda
- Garnish: grapefruit half wheel/wheel (optional)
Method:
- Add lineage into highball glass.
- Add ice into glassware.
- Top off with grapefruit soda
- (Optional) Garnish with a grapefruit half wheel/wheel.
“1” Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces Balcones Texas 1
- 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 bar spoon of rich demerara syrup
- Garnish: lemon twist
Method:
- Add all ingredients to an Old Fashioned glass.
- Add ice and stir 30 times.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
