Bacon bourbon by Experimental Spirits Co – cocktail series: part 1 – Maple Bacon Old Fashioned

For the first time ever I’m genuinely excited about tasting a bourbon. It’s this new bourbon by The Experimental Spirits Company. It’s made with bacon!

That’s right, folks. I said made with bacon. 350g of the stuff in every bottle in fact. After a little digging around, I found that infusing bourbon with bacon has been going on for quite a while – who’d have known?

But this is the first of its kind here in Australia. And it’s pretty bloody good!

It’s the product of bar-based brainbox Sven Almenning, who’s started the iconic Eau de Vie bars here in Sydney and in Melbourne, the Apothecary and The Roosevelt of course.

With the help of mixologist-cum-alchemist Dr Phil Gandevia, who runs the incredible Eau de Vie Apothecary, and an excellent bit of crowd funding, Almenning has produced this small-batch bourbon. It’s the first spirit that’s come from this new distillery – I’m excited to see what comes next!

So anyway, what does this stuff taste like? Well, a bit like bourbon with bacon in it. Actually, the flavour’s very subtle. It gives a beautifully smooth, savoury edge to this very high quality bourbon. There are also hints of maple syrup and vanilla that add to the overall sweetness.

Here are our first two recipes in the series for getting the most of out of this excellent whisky:

Bacon Bourbon and Maple Syrup Old Fashioned

Here’s what you need:

• 2x bourbon
• 1x teaspoon maple syrup
• Thin slice of orange
• Giant ice cube

Here’s what you do:

1. Pour the maple syrup into the bottom of the glass
2. Push the slice of orange to the bottom of the glass on top of the syrup
3. Drop the ice ball on top of the orange
4. Pour the bourbon over the ice.

Pig on the rocks

Served over ice is probably the best way to experience this remarkable spirit. Especially if your lovely wife has bought you an ice cube mould that makes little ice Death Stars!!

This really is an incredible product. I’m very impressed with how this has been made. Apparently it’s a very time-consuming, laborious process to infuse the taste and smell of the bacon into the bourbon. And you can tell a lot of love has gone into creating this tipple.

They use a system called fat-washing, which doesn’t sound very nice, but it’s just a way to filter the spirit and leaves no colour difference or cloudiness.

Find it in a selection of small bars around Sydney and Melbourne (including Eau de Vie of course), but now that the project is up and running, you’ll be seeing this stuff available in bottleshops and online before you know it.

Watch this space for more ways to enjoy this bacon infused whisky. We’re pretty excited about our ideas!

What’s your initial reaction to a bacon infused spirit? What would you put with this whisky? Tell us in the comments!

Images by Mrs Romance.