Golf & Whisky, Oh Yea!

Over the past few years my affinity for links golf has had an unintended side-effect: an affinity for whisky. (There’s no e in the Scottish version of the word.) And this affliction for the water of life has become a bit of a guilty pleasure.

I have accumulated a good number of single malts and on our trips to Scotland we always carve out a little sippin’ time. A good whisky is to be cherished and I will be honest, I haven’t had too many I wouldn’t take another pour of.

But I am no snob and blends, both top and bottom shelf have found their way into my collection of single malts. And I have learned this first hand from a real Scot, ”you drink whisky anyway you like it.” So I am not ashamed to add some water or soda or even mix up a nice cocktail or two with some of the good stuff.

Luke Kerr-Dineen of Golf.com feels the same way and gives us his Whisky Wednesday column: 6 Classic Cocktails to Enjoy After Your Round. And he covers a few old standards the Old Fashioned, The Manhattan and The Mint Julep…all tasty treats.

But I came across another delightfully refreshing whisky based beverage last year at a place in New York City. Lady Gaga’s fathers restaurant, Joanne’s Trattoria features a few specialty cocktails and I tried their Jack Ketchum and I have been hooked on it ever since.

It’s a good shot of whisky, they use Dewar’s scotch, ginger beer, club soda with a lemon twist. It a great change from a normal cocktail and definitely a thirst quencher.

I appreciate a good Dark n Stormy and this is the whiskey version of that. My own variation is either Dewar’s or The Famous Grouse with a hefty dose of Gosling’s Diet Ginger Beer and a splash of club soda with a lime wedge. It’s a tasty beverage and a good way to get our minimum daily requirement of whisky.

Slàinte Mhath!