I’ve long held up Bushmills 10yo as one of my all-time favourite Irish Whiskeys, predominantly because it has such an incredibly clear and obvious flavour component within it, that of Nectarine.

In fact, I can be more specific than that. It’s the taste of the little pieces of Nectarine that are present in yoghurt. I can go further than that, too if you like – it was the standard range of Safeways (before they got eaten by Morrisons) yoghurts available in the late 1980s. Only available as a 4-pack with Strawberry, Peach Melba, and Vanilla I believe (seriously – who eats vanilla yoghurt?).

Every time I taste this superb whiskey, I’m immediately taken back to our dining room table, and a debate about who was going to get which of the 4-pack. Whenever I’m asked by someone for an example of a whisk(e)y that has a very particular and immediately identifiable flavour, this is the one that I immediately plump for.

With this in mind, I thought I’d do the bleedin’ obvious, and create a cocktail to play on this particular element of Bushmills’ flavour profile, with the reasonably unsubtle ulterior motive of trying to make a whiskey cocktail that my good lady wife might actually enjoy (or at least say something other than “mmm… that’s nice dear. Can I have a G&T please?”).

So – here we go:

The Bushmills Nectarine Sour

 

Ingredients (makes 2 cocktails)

·         1 very ripe nectarine

·         100ml Bushmills 10yo

·         40ml(ish) fresh lemon juice

·         40g(ish) caster sugar

Directions

After removing a slice for each drink’s garnish – peel the nectarine, remove the stone, and blitz in a hand blender until good and pureed. If you’re having trouble getting the nectarine into a decent puree, you can add a bit of the whiskey to get it going.

Pour into a boston shaker, add the whiskey, and gradually build in the Lemon Juice and Sugar. How much of each you need to add will depend entirely on the ripeness of your nectarine, and your personal taste, but you will almost certainly need at least 20ml and 20g to get the required balance.

Add ice to the shaker, and shake for a good couple of minutes (or until the outside of the shaker frosts up).

Strain into a glass packed with Fresh ice, and garnish with the reserved nectarine slice.

This is probably one of the most ‘summery’ whisky cocktails I’ve ever made, and the fact that the Bushmills integrates so easily with the fresh fruit flavours from the Nectarine and Lemon makes it an ideal drink for those who still ‘need a little help’ in getting onto the path of whisky cocktail goodness.

I did try adding egg-white to this (as is traditional with a whiskey sour), but to be honest, the increased viscosity was a bit too much. The nectarine puree adds a huge amount of mouthfeel, and really doesn’t need any help on this front.

Let me know how you get on with this one, and whether you’re feeling brave enough to try and other whiskeys with this – I’ve had a crack with a few other Irish Whiskeys, but none seem to integrate and compliment the nectarine as much as the Bushmills.

Ben.