Which Spirit Should Have Bacon In It?

fat wash bourbon scotch

First, I have to follow up on my initial fat-washing experiment. Here are the cocktails that I tried:

Olive Oil Martini
  • 2 oz Olive Oil-Washed Gin
  • 1/4 oz Noilly Prat Extra Dry Vermouth
  • 1 pinch salt

This was pretty good, but a bit too subtle. For my next batch, I'll try more oil. The salt is actually a nice addition, I might do this occasionally for regular Martinis.

Coconut Negroni V1
  • 1 1/2 oz Coconut-Washed Pisco
  • 3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
  • 3/4 oz St. George's Bruto Americano

There are a few things wrong here. First, it was immediately obvious that the St. George's Campari substitute was not right for this cocktail. It's too gentian forward. Nice on it's own, or as the centerpiece of a cocktail, but not good here. Second, I ignored the recommended proportions for this recipe, thinking that it had way too much pisco. Turns out, professional bartenders know what they're doing. So this brings me to...

Coconut Negroni V2
  • 2.5 oz Coconut-Washed Pisco
  • 3/8 oz Sweet Vermouth
  • 3/8 oz Campari

This is very nice... for someone else. Unfortunately, rather than opening my eyes, this cocktail simply reminded me that I don't care for coconut that much. That said, this is objectively a very good drink.

Bacon Old Fashioned V1
  • 2 oz Bacon-Washed Bourbon
  • 1/4 oz Maple Syrup
  • 2 ds Angostura

Straight, the bourbon was well balanced. Mixed, the bacon seemed to dilute less than the other flavors, and began to taste fatty again.

Bacon old Fashioned V2
  • 1 oz Bacon-Washed Bourbon
  • 1 oz Unwashed Bourbon
  • 2 ds Angostura

Better balanced, but still a little fatty. And there's another problem. There doesn't seem to any smokey flavor coming from the bacon, only meat, which brings me to today's experiment...

Bacon-Bourbon vs. Bacon-Scotch

If I want a smokey flavor, maybe I should use a smokey base spirit. I have just mixed up 8 ounces each of Evan Williams Bourbon and Teacher's Highland Cream Blended Scotch with 1 teaspoon (reduced from 1 tablespoon) each of bacon fat. I will report back with the results.

And so, as a clear example of the dangers of titling a post before writing it, I will leave it there for now.

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