Bisou Cocktail

Like many of my fellows in the industry, the 2010/2011 World Class competition has inspired creativity and initiative unlike any competition before it. Three state heats across different categories culminating in a top-ten final in Sydney in June has ignited 12-months of interest and intrigue in the competition and pushed all of us onto a higher level of professionalism befitting this noble trade and the products we represent in the competitions.

Starting with the sangrita ritual round and moving on to a gin and vodka seasonal cocktail round, the competition enters its final stage – Gentleman's Cocktail. In this round we are challenged to use Talisker 10yo single malt, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve blended Scotch, or Ron Zacapa Centenario 23yo as the centrepiece in the cocktail. This guarantees excitement among the bartending community, especially given the other stipulation for this round – our cocktails must be a twist on a pre-prohibition classic. In other words, the drink will likely be stirred down without juice and only modified by other spirits, liqueurs, fortified wines, syrups and bitters. As the final round, this is bound to be the most exciting and followed. Up for grabs are four final spots in the final, as well as a trip overseas for the most consistent performer over the three rounds.

A drink that has captured my imagination in the lead up to this round is the Bijou (Fr. Jewel), created by Harry Johnson in New York in 1900. An equal-parts mix of gin, Italian vermouth and Green Chartreuse with orange bitters, it is an intensely aromatic mix with a velvety mouthfeel and shimmering off-pink colour.

Whilst working at Sling Lounge with Adam Brewer and Martin Lange we had a regular clientele, mostly female, who requested smoky whisky in original cocktails every night. Stumbling across the Pete's Word from Death & Co. which replaces gin in The Last Word with smoky scotch such as Lagavulin or Talisker, we applied this switch to similar sour classics such as a 20^th Century Cocktail, and with that great equaliser, Campari, in a Smoky Negroni.

So to try the Bijou with Talisker, then. Mixed up in replicated proportions the drink is sweet and heavy, even using a lighter style red vermouth, so after a few weeks of subconscious mixology a compromise was reached which didn't undermine the heritage of the original drink. Replacing the Italian vermouth with a dry french style and then adding a splash of Rosso Antico seemed to be the winning combination. Lightening up the fortified wine influence allows the Talisker to stand up and shine. Using Noilly Prat also lightens the colour and renders this cocktail pleasant to look at – translucent blush – further keeping the ties with this cocktail's heritage.

The finishing touch though, was yet to come.

Sourcing a small 2.5l barrel thanks to Nathan at Black Pearl, I set about preparing it to age my Talisker-Bijou. A good clean and soak with filtered water followed by a weeks' seasoning with vermouth and “Piglet” was ready for action. Made from French oak and still exuding a lovely buttery chardonnay aroma, I held high hopes for the influence she would have upon this cocktail.

The criteria for this round calls for a “Gentleman's” cocktail, so I wanted to create a drink that was sharp yet approachable in appearance and with a deep and complex flavour. The red hue of the cocktail impresses a sense of tenderness, and the aroma and flavour are multi-layered, featuring natural herbal bitterness and the wisdom of age's tannic length in combination with the malty and chocolate-orange succulence of it's origins. A well-rounded character.

Ageing cocktails in barrels and bottles has become quite an exciting trend in the international bartending community over the past two years, and as an accessible adjunct to a bartender's kit of tricks, I encourage everyone to try it, for use in the bar, or as a hobby at home. This was certainly something I enjoyed and am still enjoying now.

Time in the Barrel.

On barreling day, I mixed the cocktail once to be sure of the ratios I wanted, tasted the barrel-aged water and vermouths, and after checking my hair set up the camera and the rest is history:

What happened on the dining room table over the next three weeks was amazing.

The first three days, no noticeable change occurred, but then one morning I crept into the house at 7am and was greeted not by the small dog, which was sleeping, but by the warming aroma of oak and spirits. Scottish angels glided towards me and embraced me as I stood astonished. The interplay had begun in earnest.

The cocktail in the first week was not affected by the oak too much – there is too much flavour in those spirits to be immediately influenced – but the flavours began to settle and smooth out in earnest by day 6.

On day 10, and worried that the plan was not working, I noticed that the cocktail began to take on a serious lemon flavour, so the Noilly Prat was opening up, and I just hoped that the rest of it would follow quickly afterwards.

Day 12 and the lemon turned into orange, and a hint of oak shone through. It was actually tasting pretty good at this point, but I had had a taste of what Piglet would bring, and was determined to get as much out of it as I could.

Day 17 and things were heating up. Literally we were having warm days, and at the critical time for a timber cask so small, everything started to happen quickly. I had a day of big milk chocolate prominence, and that mellowed out the next day, and I knew I had to be quick in the bottling. Eventually, on day 20, it was time for harvest. And oh the glory to retrieve those precious sweet litres of liquid!

A quick and bizzare filtration later and the cocktail was in the bottles, awaiting service.

So finally,

Why the name Bisou?

Obviously as a reference to the original cocktail and the heritage of this one. But there are many ways to look at this one. Time in the barrel led me to many other distractions while always keeping an eye on this project. And so it led me to realise that when a gentleman is removed from his lady, he will always keep her in mind, and indulge in no more than a kiss – Bisou - in her absence.