Beekeeper's Sour (Original Recipe)

 It's fun to mix with bourbon and honey. It's even more fun to mix with a whiskey that is made from infused honey comb. That's what MurLarkey honey whiskey is, the distillery's craft white whiskey aged with homegrown honey comb. 

Master distiller George Zwetkow raises his own bees out in rural Virginia. His honey whiskey has the essence of real honey without the sticky sweetness. This is a far cry from honeyed whiskies that have sugar and artificial flavor added. In fact, if you want a sweet cocktail with Murlarkey honey, you'll need to make it sweet.

So I did. I made a typical Sour but with honey and some bourbon. I changed up the format and did it with crushed ice in a rocks glass. It looks great and tastes even better!

• 1 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
  
• 1 oz. MurLarkey Honey whiskey
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. honey
• orange slice garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of crushed ice. Garnish with fruit.

Pavilion Caprice Cooler

This cocktail has a charming name. It is appropriately whimsical and suggests a luxurious escape to the shade on a hot day.

The original Pavilion Caprice recipe calls for peach flavored brandy. I could have used apricot brandy, but I think that the intense peach flavor of Bird Dog peach whiskey is more suited to balance the grapefruit juice and lemon.

I'm impressed by the balance in this cocktail. I rarely come across flavor combinations that surprise me anymore. I expected a peaches and cream flavor. Instead, the Pavilion Caprice comes across as exotic with grapefruit juice and peaches rising and falling away from the tongue in a delightful way.

• 1/2 oz. honey
• 4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 1/2 oz. peach brandy (Bird Dog peach whiskey used)
• 1 egg white

Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend to combine without ice to incorporate the honey. Add ice and blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Squall glass or brandy snifter.

Independence Swizzle

I really enjoy a good swizzle, and this is one of the best ones. I chose (because I had a choice today) Lyon dark rum to represent the colony of Maryland for the American independence and three patriotic swizzle sticks, which are a must when serving a swizzle.

Among other adjustments to the drink, I crushed ice by hand in my shaker using a muddler, which gives you large and small ice chunks to mix the drink with. You can see how the small crushed flakes float to the top. These hold the flavor of the bitters very well, though you can't see that because I used Hella Aromatic Bitters. These have no obvious pink color like Angostura bitters do. The do go very well with rum, though, with their clove spice that makes the rum taste like a spiced rum.

• 2 oz. dark rum
• 1 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. honey
• 3-5 dashes Angostura bitters
• lime slice

Dissolve honey in a Collins glass with a splash of warm water by stirring until the honey and water are evenly mixed. Fill the glass with liquid ingredients and crushed ice and stir quickly until glass frosts over. Add more ice and stir briefly before garnishing with a lime slice.

Scotch Smash

This is a typical smash drink that's been strained in this photo to make it look a little classier. For this one I used Johnny Walker Red Label and it came out sweet and minty with very little bite from the peat. This is good because it became a perfect summer cocktail.

• 2 oz. scotch
• 6-8 mint leaves
• 2 orange slices
• 1 tsp. honey
• dash orange bitters

Muddle mint, honey, and orange in an Old Fashioned glass. Add ice and scotch and stir. Top with dash of bitters. (Strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube to make it look like the photo or enjoy it with all of the muddled mint and fruit.)

Gretna Green

A little pea-soup green and unattractive, this drink packs a wallop of flavor. This will be popular with drinkers of Irish Mist and Drambuie but uses neither. Here's a helpful hint. Make a solution with the Chartreuse and the honey by muddling them together in the shaker. This will break up the honey and spread it throughout the drink.

• 1 oz. heather honey (clover used)
• 1 1/2 oz. scotch
• 1/2 oz. green Chartreuse
• 1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.