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With summer around the corner, now is the time too look at what ways are there to create a longer, refreshing, whisky based drink, that it is acceptable to incorporate ice into.
Classic cocktails incorporate just four elements; the spirit, sugars, bitters, and dilution (usually through ice). This is how the Old Fashioned is made. However rather than the traditional bourbon, I suggest mixing it up with Scotch. I find that Haig Club does an outstanding job of creating a 'New Fashioned', and is frankly the ideal way to consume the whisky rather than drinking it neat. Of course lighter whisky's can do a good job too, Dalwhinnie for example; but you can also choose to go a smokies route using something along the lines of a Talisker 10 or Storm, or a Johnnie Walker Double Black; even some Lagavulin 16. Whatever type of whisky you choose will add its own nuance to the drink so feel free to experiment.
When using Scotch to create a 'New Fashioned' the key is to use a dark sugar syrup. Traditionally an Old Fashioned uses a sugar cube that you have to stir frantically to dissolve. This is both time consuming and fails to add to the necessary flavour. Making a dark sugar syrup in advance, dissolving equal parts high quality brown sugar and boiling water adds a depth of sweetness that leaves bourbon redundant, and allows you to explore the array of subtleties that Scotch brings. I personally recommend Talisker 10 if you are interested in smokey whisky's. Talisker has a nice whiff of smokiness too it, as well as a richness that is bolstered by the sugar syrup, and is perfectly accepting of those orange flavours. Oban would also be a great match; but that scotch is better saved for drinking with (literally) a drop of water. This is not about using your best Scotch; this is about choosing to add the flavours you enjoy through your choice of Scotch.
Preparation is simple and almost instant; 100ml of your choice of Scotch in an Old Fashioned tumbler over plenty of ice; a good desert spoon or so of sugar syrup, a good dash or so of bitters, and garnish with the peel of an unwaxed orange; Sainsbury's organic oranges are the best and most widely available. Give it a stir for a few seconds, add more ice if necessary, and it's done. You have a fantastic and dangerously drinkable whisky cocktail. Just remember that its very easy to sink a full size bottle between you and two or three friends; sometimes in only a couple of hours. I know this for a fact.
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