Old Fashioned Week 2021 : Johnnie Walker

One of the most frequent questions I get is “Should you also use the better and more expensive spirits for cocktails? Isn’t that a shame for those finely crafted liquids?”.

I can understand why people ask this question, but let’s compare it with the work of a Chef in a fine dining restaurant. Do they cook their fantastic dishes with high-quality ingredients? Or do they use cheap stuff? 

I do agree that some spirits are absolutely outstanding and that you should at least try them neat to experience the full aroma and taste. But I don’t see any objection to using them in a well-balanced recipe. The Old Fashioned is a perfect example of a recipe that always puts the spotlight on the base spirit. 

”And what about blended whisky?”. In every liqueur store, you will find cheap blends that are mostly sold to mix with cola. But you will also find the better kind of blends, in most cases, they are blends of just a few excellent malts. 

Johnnie Walker is one of the best known blended whisky brands in the world. The range starts with the (cheap) Red Label that’s behind almost every bar in this world, but they also have better quality blends in the Black, Gold and Blue Label. 

Recently Johnnie Walker opened a new flagship store in the heart of whisky-making Scotland called Johnnie Walker Princes Street. Do visit the website, they did a nice job in creating this experience. I joined the online press launch a month ago. This week I received a special bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label Princes Street Edition.

Princes Street Old Fashioned

Ingredients
60 ml Johnnie Walker Black Label
10 ml Simple Syrup
2 dashes of Angostura Aromatic bitters

Method
Add whisky, syrup and bitters to a tumbler with ice cubes. Stir for 15 seconds. Twist an orange peel over the glass to express the oils. Garnish with orange, toasted rosemary or a blood orange wedge.

Disclaimer: All pictures and texts are copyrighted by Geert Conard and Esito Management & Communications unless stated otherwise in the article. While some items might have been gifted by the producer or distributor, these are in no way paid promotions or recommendations.