The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey is a great bottle to have in your home bar. Not only is it a lovely dram on its own, but it plays well with others. Known in the industry as “an Irish whiskey with an American accent,” this whiskey is a beautiful, multifaceted liquid that can effortlessly slip into bourbon cocktail territory.
Crafted by some of the best palates in the cocktail world, this is a whiskey that was designed to stand proud in mixed libations. With this in mind, the folks at ReserveBar have invited me to bring you on a tastebud tour of my favourite drinks to mix with Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey. These cocktails are easy to make and easy to drink - no centrifuges needed!
The Diveball
The first drink on a cocktail tour of the Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey is our signature serve: The Diveball. A banger of a drink that is perfect for a BBQ in the sun. This drink is a highball with attitude, easy to make and stupidly sippable.
The sea salt softens the bitterness of the tonic and really amps up those beautiful vanilla and caramel notes found within the Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey. The Peychaud’s plays well with the tonic to create a herbaceous background that works perfectly with those fresh oaky notes of the whiskey from that virgin American oak finish.
The Diveball is perfect for session sippin’ for long, loose nights. Easy to make. (Very) easy to drink.
Ingredients:
1 ¼ oz. The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
Top with Tonic water
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Crack of Sea salt
Build the drink in a highball glass over ice. Add all ingredients, except salt and garnish, and stir. Add a crack of sea salt. Garnish with an orange wedge.
Dirty Photograph
Can you really have a whiskey on the back bar and not make an old fashioned? As the OG of the cocktail world, I wanted to create something a little funky that plays to the flavour notes of the whiskey. Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey is a stellar liquid in a classic Old Fashioned, but this twist plays well with the darker flavours you can find, such as the coffee and dark chocolate notes from the freshly charred barrels.
Dirty Photograph is an old fashioned but soy much better. Inspired by the Bonnevilles, Dead Rabbit’s spice notes are lifted by maple sweetness with soy bringing depth and umami.
Ingredients:
2 oz. The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
¼ oz. Maple syrup
3 dashes Angostura
3 sprays of Soy sauce
Add all ingredients except soy sauce into a mixing glass with ice. Stir to dilute. Spray rocks glass with soy sauce. Strain from the mixing glass and garnish with orange zest.
GOODGOODNOTBAD
If you’re going to get weird, you might as well get weird weird. GOODGOODNOTBAD is one of my favourite cocktails to make for friends. A classic whiskey sour is one of the most approachable forms that whiskey can take.
A great gateway into both the world of whiskey and cocktails, it is a classic for very obvious reasons. Having a higher proof of 88 and a lash of creaminess from the malt in the blend, Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey works really well with the sharpness of the lemon juice. With that beautiful black pepper spice on the finish, I wanted to really dial up the savoury notes and try it out in a funkified whiskey sour.
GOODGOODNOTBAD is a whiskey sour, but unlike before. A savoury and sharp little number before Dead Rabbit’s caramel and spices show up and get rowdy.
Ingredients:
1 ¾ oz. The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
¾ oz. Pickle juice
½ oz. Sugar syrup*
⅓ oz. Lemon juice*
½ oz. Egg white / foaming agent + .5oz water
*Note: you may have to adjust lemon/sugar depending on how sour/sweet pickle juice is
Dry shake all ingredients to activate egg whites/ foamer. Scream ACTIVATE EGG WHITES. Add ice and hard shake. Fine strain into chilled glass. Garnish with bitters on top of foam.
Karen’s Koffee
Irish whiskey and coffee have long been best buds in the cocktail world. The sweetness from the higher malt content of Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey sits beautifully in an Irish Coffee. This is great for the winter months, but I wanted to create a coffee cocktail with Dead Rabbit for all seasons. Cue Karen’s Koffee.
As a blend, Dead Rabbit Irish whiskey has the best of both worlds, the malt creates a sturdy base, and the grain gives the whiskey more flavour flexibility. This makes slipping it into a cheeky little espresso martini-style drink pretty effortless. Replacing the espresso with stout lightens the drinks whilst adding complexity, ensuring you can have more than one and still get to sleep before 5AM. Karen’s Koffee — be basic, but don’t be a jerk about it.
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. The Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey
½ oz. Coffee Liqueur
2 ½ oz. Stout*
¼ oz. Honey water (1:1)*
1 Dash chocolate bitters
*Note: (1:1) is one part honey to one part water. This is to thin out the honey to make it easier to mix in drinks. You also may need to adjust the amount of honey depending on the sweetness of the stout used.
Shake all ingredients hard with ice. Strain into glass. Express lemon oils and discard. Complain to a manager.
Deadly Buzz
After all the excitement and blasphemy of adding stout to an espresso martini, we have arrived at the final drink: Deadly Buzz. A twist on one of my favourite lesser-known classics, the Nixon. I could wax lyrical about how the floral notes of the drink play, but really this cocktail deserves to be drank in your most comfortable chair with “I Don’t Belong” by Fontaines D.C. playing.
Big on the nose, like Richard, with soft and fruity notes chased by a dry, bitter palate.
Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Dead Rabbit
½ oz. Campari
⅓ oz. Crème de Violette
3 dashes Peach bitters
Add all ingredients to mixing glass with ice. Stir to dilute. Strain into chilled glass. Express grapefruit peel oils and discard.
Now that you have several cocktails to try, why not pick up a bottle of Dead Rabbit Irish Whiskey to rock your home bar? You’ll be glad you added this versatile whiskey to your repertoire!
