Portrait: Lawrence Watson
The last in our series of cocktails for 4th of July Independence Day celebrations is quite the adventurer. Forget your average barrel-aged cocktail left to do its stuff quietly behind the bar, this one has seen more of the world than most of us experience in a lifetime. If only barrels could talk, we’re betting it would have some tales to tell. Get this: this cocktail has spent the last five months travelling around the world on a Cunard Cruise Liner.
Apart from a great story that means the cocktail has experienced different climates and humidity which makes it kinda special in our books. “It’s actually a team drink led by Neil Donachie,” says Head Bartender Kyle Wilkinson. “It’s based around all the ingredients that were discovered in the New World, otherwise there would have been no Independence Day at all.” He has a point.
The über barrel-aged cocktail came back from its travels three weeks ago and is currently being bottled in Scotland. It will be making its debut in the Beaufort Bar in a few weeks time but for the 4th July celebrations, you can try the no less spectacular un-aged version. Just make sure you go back to try its older sibling in a few weeks time.
Which whiskey did you choose for your Independence Day Cocktail?
We went for Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel – it’s rather special, just like this cocktail.
What independent touch have you added to the drink?
Other than sending it on a voyage on a cruise ship? I’d say the choice of ingredients which have been chosen to reflect the ingredients discovered at the dawn of the New World. The way we serve it is very different too; it comes in a magnifying glass that sits on top of a map so you can trace its journey.
The Beaufort Bar’s Independence Day cocktail:
Age of Discovery
40ml Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel
20ml Bacardí 8 Year Old
20ml homemade spiced Madeira
10ml Martini Rubino
10ml Dubonnet
2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters
2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Method:
Stir ingredients over ice and rest in a barrel. Serve in a Rocks glass over ice (the aged version will be served straight from the freezer).
Enjoy the experience at Beaufort Bar at The Savoy, Strand, London WC2R 0EU. fairmont.com
