One of my favourite things about writing Phat Cupcake is the innovative and individual brands I get to try. It doesn’t take long, pottering around here, to realise that I love cocktails and trying new spirits is a particularly favourite hobby of mine. The latest spirit to land on my doorstep was Oxford Rye, made by The Oxford Artisan Distillery. Let me introduce you.
The Oxford Artisan Distillery is the only distillery in the world to use populations of ancient heritage grains to produce their full range of spirits. It enables them to really play with the distilling process to produce unique and one of a kind spirits that you really won’t find anywhere else. The grains are grown within 50 miles of the distillery and are then used to distil in The Oxford Artisan Distillery’s purpose built copper stills, Nautilus and Nemo. If you are a distillery geek, I’d urge you to have a look at these grand beasts on their website, they’re absolutely beautiful!
Fast forward several steps and you have the range of spirits available from The Oxford Artisan Distillery, including their Oxford Rye. It’s not a whisky, nor do they intend for it to be one, but it is a good introduction to the flavour profile should you choose to progress into their whisky selection. The ‘liquid rye’ has sandalwood and vanilla on the nose with a distinctive heat on the palate from cloves and smooth spice. This quickly mellows out to a creamy, nutty flavour that is unlike anything I’ve tasted before.
Whilst it isn’t a whisky, it does share a similar flavour profile so I used it to make an Old Fashioned. I was really pleased with the results! Adding the cherries gives it a sweetness to tone down those spicy notes without taking away from the unique flavour of the spirit.
Cherry Old Fashioned
Equipment
- Jigger / Bar Measure
- Bar Spoon
- Lowball Glass
Ingredients
- 50 ml Oxford Rye
- 1 Spoon Sugar Syrup
- 1 Spoon Cherry Juice
- 1 Spoon Bitters
- 2 Maraschino Cherries
- 1 Orange Rind
- Ice
Instructions
- Fill the lowball glass 3/4 full with ice.
- Add the Oxford Rye, cherry juice, bitters and sugar syrup.
- Stir until the glass is too cold to touch.
- Twist the orange rind over the glass to release the oils and drop into the glass.
- Add the Maraschino cherries.
- Garnish with extra cherries and orange rind.
You can grab yourself a bottle of Oxford Rye from the Oxford Artisan Distillery website priced at £40.
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