Looking to find a test vehicle for Irish Whiskey led me to pore over many of the cocktail books in my collection. The result was barely a handful of drinks, over half of which were Irish Coffee. However, at least two books called out a Blackthorn (Irish Version). Although there seems to be no consistent recipe, the base ingredients always contained Irish Whiskey, Absinthe, and Bitters with either dry or sweet vermouth. So is it worth digging out this forgotten classic?
Blackthorn (Irish Version)
The Blackthorn (Irish Version) is nothing short of completely wild. Bitter, bold, sweet, fruity – this cocktail is in your face from beginning to end. The sweet vermouth, bitters, and absinthe work in delightful harmony, and somehow the Irish whiskey manages to just flow with them. You won’t particularly notice it, but it also somehow adds character. One thing is for sure, this is not a traditionally balanced cocktail, and it’s not for the faint of heart.
Drink Notes & Recommendations:
The Blackthorn (Irish Version) is one of the cocktails that seems to have no obvious construction. The above recipe is to the specs of Philip Greene in his book The Manhattan: The Story of the First Modern Cocktail*. However, as he notes, there are also iterations of this drink that feature sloe gin and absinthe. Other variation of this drink include dry vermouth with no sweet, no sweet and just dry, or orange bitters. The proportions range from 1 to 1 to 2 to 1 to perfect ratios of vermouth to whiskey. The entire drink is confused.
So how should you make it? I think the answer is it depends. I’m going to argue this is a template style drink that you should tailor toward your palate. If you like Manhattans, try cranking the whiskey up to 2 to 1 and drop the absinthe to a rinse. Prefer a more aromatic drink? Make it 1 to 1. Want something dry, skip the sweet vermouth, add dry vermouth.
- Irish Whiskey – I used Jameson here to get a baseline. It plays second fiddle in a 1:1 ratio. Use your preferred brand, but bare in mind an even ratio will depend less on the quality of the Irish Whiskey
- Sweet Vermouth – Carpano Antica has a nice mix of sweetness, fruit, and spice. It works particular well here and remains our recommendation.
- Absinthe – Although it’s expensive, St. George Absinthe Verte is amazingly deep, rich, and balanced. Despite the strong flavors, it allows the other ingredients space to breath and accentuate their flavors. If you don’t have it, feel free to use whatever Absinthe or Herbsaint you have on hand.
- Bitters – I used Angostura here, but the original recipe calls for Boker’s. Fear not though, Ango works fine here.
- Glassware – The wash line is going to come up short with the ratio of the recipe, but a coupe will work just fine.
* – This post contains an affiliate link that we might receive a commission from if you make a purchase. This helps us to keep testing drinks and bottles to give you great cocktail advice!