The Whisky Sour (or Whiskey Sour)
To make a great sour, we need the right tools. We also of course need a tasty whisky to start with. Great ingredients make for a fantastic cocktail. Preparation method must also be perfected to really make this drink pop. Something we teach our students is ‘Good fresh ingredients can mask an un-stellar spirit. An amazing spirit will be crushed by inadequate juices’.
Whiskies Can Be Spelled Differently
Whiskey or Whisky? In Canada, and most of the rest of the world we spell whisky without an ‘e’ before the ‘y’. Depending on if your roots lie in Ireland or America, you might be inclined to include an ‘e’ in your spelling of this aged spirit. Going back to early Gaelic times, a split between the Scots and Irish resulted in language variations. The Irish continued with that ‘e’ in their spelling of the word in religious texts and those Irish brought ‘whiskey making’ to the USA. Look around the rest of the world and you will find Scottish, Japanese, Canadian and even Indian whisky all spelled without the ‘e’.
Of course you can still find a few distillers that deviate from these rules… We’re looking at you Maker’s Mark.