Winter Whiskey Recipes

Most wine lovers are familiar with “terroir,” a word used to describe a sense of place that is singular to beverages made in a particular corner of the world. The temporal correlate of terroir—a sense of time—is equally important. It may be a bit of an understatement to say that I am inspired by the time of year. A good year in my life looks like this:

January: Make Seville Orange Marmalade
February & March: Forage Black Birch
April: Pick Strawberries
May: Pick Spruce Tips
June & July: Pick Peaches
August: Get Melons from Local Farmers Markets
September & October: Forage Pawpaws, Pick Hardy Oranges, Make Pumpkin Butter, Make Elderberry Cordial
November & December: Make Gallons and Gallons of Egg Nog

In a perfect culinary world, a chef or bartender is attempting not only to sketch a place but also a time in that place in their dishes or drinks. If I’m doing my job correctly, people can taste both of those things in my coupes and tumblers.

While foraging is outside of the interest of most, there are some common-sense ways to drink seasonally. (This fall, I just found North American passionfruit for the first time, and I’m using a centrifuge to clarifying a gin-infusion while writing this!) In our corner of the world, many folks trade their clear summer spirits for dark ones as the air chills. Whiskey is, of course, the king of the dark lords, and there is some evidence—plenty of it anecdotal to be sure—that a nip of whiskey can sooth a sore throat as well as tame a cold. This is indeed a comforting prospect to a planet facing a global viral pandemic.

A straight up shot of whiskey can be a little bracing! If you have sat at my bar, you’ve probably heard me prattle on and on about how the bracing taste of spirits can be smoothed out with the addition of a little sweet, and a balancing ingredient of something either assertively bitter or acidic. Sometimes you need a cold whiskey drink that warms you from the inside out, and sometimes you need a hot whiskey drink that warms you from the outside in. I’ll leave you with two whiskey cocktails, one hot and one cold, that will hopefully keep you healthy and happy as the cold weather sets in and as we fight through this pandemic.

Looking for more wine country recipes to enjoy? Check out our Recipe Section, where you can find seasonal dishes and drinks, desserts and more. 

For local ingredients like Vermouth, bitters and whiskey, or a copy of Micah’s book The Imbible stop by the Wine & Country Shop in Ivy. ~

 MICAH LEMON, bar manager for The Alley Light and author of The Imbible, has firmly established himself as the leading craft cocktail expert in Virginia.