{"id":7787,"date":"2012-10-04T18:35:59","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T17:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/?p=7787"},"modified":"2014-07-28T19:07:20","modified_gmt":"2014-07-28T18:07:20","slug":"what-cocktails-can-i-make-barrel-aged-gin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/what-cocktails-can-i-make-barrel-aged-gin\/","title":{"rendered":"What Cocktails can I make with a Barrel-Aged Gin?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago, you could have been forgiven for never having heard of barrel-aged gin <\/strong>or yellow gin.<\/strong>\u00a0The term \u201cAged\u201d is used to refer to it because it differs from normal gin in that it has been aged for some time in a barrel; \u201cYellow\u201d refers to the distinctive hue which can range anywhere from a slight tint* to a deep brown, a la Whiskey or a Good Rye.<\/p>\n

\"Barrels\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This recent expansion in the art of aged gin in barrels has seen limited edition releases from Few Spirits<\/a><\/strong>, Roundhouse Spirits<\/a><\/strong>, Smooth Ambler Spirits<\/a><\/strong>, Breuckelen Distilling, and that\u2019s just in the past year. More are on the way. Since you\u2019re bound to see a bottle on the shelf at your local liquor store sooner rather than later, I\u2019m here to help answer the question that is surely on your mind: what cocktails can I make with Aged Gin<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

First, <\/strong>a Classic Gin Cocktail where Barrel-Aged Gin Shines<\/p>\n

The Negroni<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0cocktail is my go-to cocktail for trying an barrel-aged Gin.<\/p>\n

Barrel-Aged Negroni cocktail<\/h2>\n

1 part Aged Gin
\n1 part Sweet Vermouth
\n1 part Campari
\nStir w\/ ice and serve.<\/p>\n

Just the right amount of sweetness, bitterness, and room for the gin to shine. This cocktail works so well for the same reason a Manhattan<\/a><\/strong> is a classic among bourbon drinkers. The sweet of the Vermouth<\/strong> and the Campari<\/strong> brighten up the drink, while the dark-oak notes, and woody tones come through offering a spicy, but only mildly juniper-centric take on the Negroni cocktail.<\/strong>\u00a0I prefer the darker, bolder barrel-aged gins in this cocktail. Specifically\u00a0I’ve\u00a0found that Smooth Ambler\u2019s<\/strong> recent barrel-aged gin and Few Spirit\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0barrel-aged gin work extremely well here, both owing to the grain base still retaining hints of the grain flavor which adds an even more whiskey like note to this drink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, a throwback Gin Cocktail that really shines with Barrel-Aged Gin<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Martinez<\/a><\/strong> is often cited as the precursor to the Martini<\/strong><\/a>, despite there being not a whole lot of consensus as to what goes into the thing. The most common formula seems to focus on swapping out the dry vermouth for a sweet, and adding a bit Maraschino and\/or citrus flavor. I like a little bit of both in mine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yellow Martinez<\/h2>\n

4 parts gin
\n2 part Sweet Vermouth
\n1 part Maraschino
\n3 dashes of Orange Bitters [I actually really like Fee Brothers<\/a> because they\u2019re slightly more bitter, but there\u2019s a lot going on here, so a subtle orange flavor might be lost. Give the bitters \"Yellow<\/a>an extra shake, no one\u2019s looking or judging.]\n

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with orange rind if you\u2019re feeling fancy.<\/p>\n

For those new to barrel-aged gin in general or those in search of a cocktail which downplays the wood and oak notes just a bit more than the other cocktails in this post, I recommend this cocktail.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And finally, a cocktail more often associated with other Spirits
\n<\/strong>But that\u2019s not the final word on the topic. Though more often than not, Bourbon is the spirit of choice for the Old Fashioned<\/a><\/strong>, variations on one of the earliest cocktails are common place. Brandy was a popular substitute at one point; Rum Old Fashioned<\/strong> cocktails have made the rounds at popular cocktail bars. Heck, even the Gin Old Fashioned<\/strong> had a hey-day in the 1940s.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A Gin Old Fashioned<\/h2>\n

1 tsp. of sugar (dissolve in 2 tsp. of water) \u2013or- a tsp. of simple syrup. Either or. But important to do this step first!
\n2 dashes of Angostura bitters
\n3 parts gin
\nadd a single ice cube, and stir together.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This cocktail is a perfect way to bring a bourbon drinker into the world of gin. My favorite gin for this variation is the Imperial Barrel-Aged Gin from Roundhouse Spirits<\/strong>. I like the way that the chamomile and cinnamon notes shine, while the juniper is highlighted in the background by the addition of just a tiny bit of sugar.<\/p>\n

*Though Aged Gin is a current phenomenon, the most popular gin in the United States is Seagram\u2019s<\/strong>, which is actually \u201crested\u201d in oak barrels for nearly 3 months. Despite this fact, Seagram\u2019s<\/strong> bottle\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0boldly use the word \u201cYellow\u201d or \u201cAged\u201d anywhere prominently.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aaron Knoll<\/p>\n

Website ||\u00a0www.theGINisIN.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter ||\u00a0@theGINisIN<\/a><\/p>\n

Email ||\u00a0theginisin@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of years ago, you could have been forgiven for never having heard of barrel-aged gin or yellow gin.\u00a0The term \u201cAged\u201d is used to refer to it because it differs from normal gin in that it has been aged … Continue →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[817],"tags":[988,984,985,986,1930,987],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7787"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7787"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7787\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14447,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7787\/revisions\/14447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialandcocktail.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}