Irish Whiskey generally is gentler than bourbon or rye, and somewhat similar to scotch in its character. This can pose challenges when trying to find ingredients that provide the tensions to create balance. We wanted something that emphasized this balance, but could also give a hat tip to some of the imagery that plays heavily into St. Patrick’s day. We achieved both in our Four Leaf Clover cocktail, which balances four different ingredients to create something more than the sum of its parts – and that’ll still make you feel lucky.
Four Leaf Clover
The Four Leaf Clover is spicy, bright, sweet, and electric. Just like finding a four leaf clover, it starts with rush of excitement. Caramel, light grain, and sweet herbs lead things off, before ginger and spice kick in. The brightness throughout leaves an electric current across your tongue. The ending lingers with ginger and herbs and just a hint of stone fruit.
Drink Notes & Recommendations
Modeled after the Last Word, balance is critical in this drink, and it needs a firmer Irish whiskey to achieve the balance. We used The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth here because of the weight and powerful flavors that help to stand up to the brightness of the other flavors.
- Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth – This Irish whiskey brings power of a rich caramelized character to the drink, helping to offset herbal notes and the spice of the ginger. The sweetness gets to shine with the actual sugar from the liqueurs, and adds another dimension.
- Green Chartreuse – Green Chartreuse is a 400 year old formula of alpine herbs and secret ingredients. The result is a unique liqueur that’s critical to a wide variety of cocktails, and one we have a hard time recommending a substitute for. While it is expensive, we recommend the investment.
- Stirring’s Ginger Liqueur – Stirring’s is a spicy and ginger forward liqueur. We enjoy it for it’s price point, but feel free to substitute another ginger liqueur if you can’t find it.
- Lemon Juice – As always, we highly recommend using fresh squeezed lemon juice for best results.
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