Virtual Cocktails and Whisky Tasting for World Whisky Day

Happy World Whisky Day! This day falls on the third Saturday in May, which for 2020 is May 16th.

To celebrate, I had a virtual whisky tasting with Aberlour Single Malt Scotch. Scotland native and Chicago brand ambassador, Callum O’Donnell gave us an intro to the world of scotch and a guided tasting of three Aberlour expressions.

We tried Aberlour 12 Year Old. This one was strong but it did have a warm and lingering finish.

Next was the Aberlour 16 Year Old, which was described at the whisky for people who like White Claw. I loved this one. It had a floral scent but also a spicy nuttiness. I loved this on its own but also used this to make a cocktail at the end of the tasting.

Lastly, we tried one of the newest whisky’s, the Aberlour A’bunadh Alba. Everyone really enjoyed this one. It’s a Scotch whisky aged exclusively in American Oak Bourbon casks. The scent was delicious with notes of honey and vanilla and then apple and pear.

Quarantine Whisky Sour Cocktail Recipe:

After the tasting, we all made cocktails in our kitchens. Since it’s quarantine, not everyone had all of the ingredients, so we experimented with what we had. I used maple syrup as my simple syrup. I also only had limes instead of lemon. I surprisingly did have some bitters that I was saving for an Old Fashioned, but worked great with this.

2 oz Aberlour 12 Year Old

1 oz fresh lemon juice

1 oz simple syrup

1 egg white

Dash of bitters (as garnish)

1. Put all ingredients except bitters in a shaker without ice and dry shake for 10 seconds.

2. Add ice to the shaker and shake again for 10 seconds.

3. Strain into a rocks glass with or without ice. (I didn’t add the ice)

4. Add 3-4 Angostura bitters to the foam on top of the sour.

5. Cheers!