Paddy Melt (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This is a great drink with a questionable name. You only get away with puns this bad on St. Patrick's Day, for sure. Normally an Irish cocktail requires Irish whiskey, but in this case, malted whiskey is more important to impart that sweet "melt" flavor we are looking for. 

That's why I used Virginia Distilling Company's Brewer's Batch whiskey. This is a smoke-free scotch and American whiskey blend that's aged in Scottish Ale barrels, so it's loaded with malt character and light oak, just like malted Irish whiskey. I usually have Amaro Meletti on hand, but this time I had to fudge it. the 1/2 oz. I needed is comprised of Ambrosia Apertivo with a drop of Liquore Strega for the minty herbal notes of Meletti. Finally, I infused Rittenhouse rye with chamomile tea to get the apple notes the cocktail is designed to have. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Knappaugue Castle-12 Year Irish whiskey (Virginia Distilling Company Brewer's Batch used)
• 1/2 oz. chamomile-infused rye
• 1/2 oz. Amaro Meletti (Don Ciccio and Figili Ambrosia plus 1 dash Strega used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. cane sugar syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a fancy fizz glass.