Four Recipes that Mix Magic with Bourbon's Perfect Pairings

Bourbon’s distillation chiefly from corn can initially make for a spirit that lacks distinct contours. Distillers offset this slackness by using secondary grains, such as rye, and through long aging in oak barrels, which provides a tannic edge as if from a tea bag. Lower-shelf bourbons tend to have more corn and spend less time in a barrel, and so can be rounder and less edgy. Which means they play well with others—a good mixing bourbon is an easy-to-lead dance partner.

So who can do the leading? Bourbon gets along with an array of complementary ingredients, but a few rank among the most consistent and amenable partners. Try these pairings and see how they improve your cocktail choreography.

Wayne Curtis is the author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails and has written frequently about cocktails, spirits, travel, and history for many publications, including the Atlantic, the New York Times, Imbibe, Punch, the Daily Beast, Sunset, the Wall Street Journal, and Garden & Gun. He lives on the Gulf Coast.

Hello Friday: Bourbon + Ginger

Ingredients

- ½ oz. bourbon (Old Grand-Dad 100 Bonded recommended) 
- 2 tsp. Angostura bitters
- Spicy ginger ale (Blenheim recommended)

Preparation

Add bourbon and bitters to a double old-fashioned glass filled with ice. Stir, then top up with ginger ale.

Lapsang Souchong Manhattan: Bourbon + Tea

For the tea infusion

- ¼ cup loose Lapsang souchong tea
- 10 oz. bourbon

For each Manhattan

- 2 oz. tea-infused bourbon
- ½ oz. oloroso sherry
- ⅛ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 barrel-aged cherry, for garnish

Preparation

Make the tea-infused bourbon: Add tea and bourbon to a container with a tight-fitting lid, like a mason jar. Cover with lid and swirl rapidly; let rest for 10 minutes. Strain out tea with fine-mesh strainer. Store bourbon in a bottle or decanter.
Make the Manhattan: Add tea-infused bourbon, sherry, and vanilla to a mixing glass. Add a good amount of ice and stir for 15 to 20 seconds. Strain into your favorite whiskey glass and garnish with cherry.

The Counterfeit: Bourbon + Bénédictine

Ingredients

- 1 dash lemon bitters (may be omitted) 
- ½ oz. amaro (Meletti or Montenegro recommended)
- ½ oz. Bénédictine
- ¾ oz. fresh lemon juice
- 1½ oz. high-rye bourbon
- Lemon peel, for garnish

Preparation

Put all ingredients except lemon peel in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a rocks glass over ice, and garnish with lemon peel.

Benton’s Old-Fashioned: Bourbon + Bacon

For the bacon-infused bourbon

- 1 (750 ml) bottle bourbon
- 1 oz. liquefied bacon fat

For each old-fashioned

- 2 oz. bacon-infused bourbon
- ¼ oz. maple syrup (Grade B preferred)
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Orange twist

Preparation

Make the bacon-infused bourbon: Add liquefied bacon fat to the bourbon in a nonreactive container and let sit for 4 hours. Then place in the freezer for 4 hours so that the fat solidifies. Strain through cheesecloth to remove the fat, then rebottle the bourbon.
Make the old-fashioned: Add bacon-infused bourbon to a mixing glass filled with ice. Add maple syrup and bitters. Stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass, preferably over a large ice cube. Rub the rim with orange twist, then drop into glass.