While purists might argue that the Spanish martini and the Burnt Martini aren’t ‘true’ martinis as they contain no vermouth, I like the idea of them too much not to include them in ’30 martinis in 30 days’.
This week, my friends at Starward whisky are opening their new distillery in Port Melbourne and as they recently gave me some of their barrel-aged korenwijn ( ‘corn wine’, an old-style traditional genever), it seemed fitting to do this martini today. While you are reading this, I shall be clinking glasses with them at the soft opening of the new venue!
The traditional Burnt Martini has a splash of peaty whiskey added to the gin – a ratio of 60ml gin to 15ml whiskey is recommended. Mixing whisky and gin might seem like heresy, but when you consider that genever and whisky are both malt-based spirits, it’s not so odd really.
I’m a committed gin-fiend, so I wasn’t up for a full Burnt Martini. So I used Starboard’s korenwijn, which has strong whisky characteristics and Four Pillars gin. I also made a 1930’s drink called a Paisley Cocktail that features whisky, recommended by Jared Brown and Anastasia Miller in their book Shaken not Stirred.
Mr GQ and I sampled both, with interesting results. The cocktail closest to the Burnt Martini wasn’t half bad, although I’ll save it for medical emergencies. Both of us preferred the Paisley, which was surprisingly well-balanced and very tasty.
Ingredients for a Paisley Cocktail
60ml Botanist Gin
15ml Dolin vermouth
5ml whisky
garnish with a lemon peel
Method
Stir all the ingredients over ice. Double strain into a chilled glass and garnish with a strip of lemon.
Enjoy!
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