Last week, I poured a whiskey tasting at Basin Wine & Spirits in nearby Bushnell’s Basin, NY, and the whiskeys were (frankly speaking) fairly pedestrian. That is not to say they were bad; they are solid, reasonably priced, readily available spirits: Evan Williams 1783 (a “more aged” version of the distillery’s Evan Williams Black); Evan Williams Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon; Elijah Craig Straight Rye (I call it—affectionately, please note—“barely rye” because the mash bill includes precisely 51 percent rye grain, which is the U.S. legal minimum to be labeled rye whiskey); and Rittenhouse Rye, which is a more classic rye whiskey, with 65 percent rye grain in the mashbill, and has been a workhorse in every bar across the land since it was launched in 1934. 

All of these whiskeys retail for less than $30 per 750 ml bottle, and they are on no “bourbon bro’s” must-have list—partly because they are ubiquitous and affordable and … yes, I’ll say it … because they aren’t ‘forbidden fruit,’ aren’t shaped like a genie bottle, and don’t have a horsey on the cork. In fact, only the Elijah Craig Straight Rye even has a cork. The others have screw tops.

But these are all highly credible whiskeys. They are all very acceptable for sipping, as far as I’m concerned. It’s true. I enjoy a premium, allocated whiskey as much as any bourbon bro does, but I also believe you don’t have to spend an entire day’s pay, much less need to sell your firstborn child, to buy a bottle of bourbon or rye worth sipping (more on that to come in another post very soon). And all four of these are are great mixers.

Which brings me to today’s cocktail. 

Knowing full well that whiskey drinkers were not going to trample each other to sample these very familiar brands (although most were curious about the apparently new-to-them Elijah Craig Straight Rye), I decided the best approach was to show some delicious cocktails a home mixologist can make very easily with them.

Quote me at will: you don’t have to go broke for the love of great beverages.

I selected four cocktail recipes to make using each of these whiskeys at least once. (More another time about the others.) This one is my personal favorite of the four, boozy and rich and complex. Credit to noted bartender Julie Reiner for creating this cocktail, which is named after the Park Slope area of Brooklyn, near her noted Clover Club bar. 

THE SLOPE
2½ oz High-proof rye whiskey
¾ oz Full-bodied vermouth (e.g., Carpano Antica Formula)
¼ oz Apricot brandy liqueur
1 dash Aromatic bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with a dried apricot on the rim or a Luxardo Maraschino cherry.