The evening before the distillery tour, I attended a cocktail Mistology session with Tim Laird, Brown-Forman's CCO (Chief Cocktail Officer), in Toronto. Laird, with over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry, mixed up a few great cocktails with Canadian Mist that were as different from one another as could be, demonstrating the versatility of the whisky.
One of those drinks was a variation of one of the most popular whisky drinks, the Old-fashioned. Typically made with bourbon, this drink can have an entirely new aspect by using a different type of whisky. Using Canadian Mist in an Old-fashioned creates a light, refreshing drink and the recipe below, for the Mist Muddled Old-fashioned, is the perfect concoction. This recipe, in comparison with the old-fashioned Old-fashioned, muddles both a cherry and orange and is topped with lemon-lime soda. It can also be made with club soda, which creates a drier palate yet I have found it does not compliment this whisky quite as well and works better with bourbon Old-fashioneds.
Mist Muddled Old-fashioned
- 2 oz Canadian Mist Whisky
- 2 slices of orange
- 1 cherry
- 1 sugar cube
- 2 drops bitters
- lemon-lime soda to top-off
In a rocks glass, muddle one orange slice, cherry, sugar cube and bitters. Add ice, Canadian Mist and top with lemon-lime soda. Garnish with an additional orange slice.