01 Jul Arriba! to Summer Cocktail Recipe

Arriba! a Summer Cocktail Recipe

As we’ve mentioned, we used some of Wigle’s standards to spice up our cocktail class drinks. We love the way Wigle’s day-in, day-out spirits bring just a little twist in an unexpected direction to drinks. Even more than that, we love the way Wigle is constantly experimenting with something completely different. And, what do you know, just as we were finishing up our class, Wigle’s newest seasonal releases arrived at our door. This season, they’re offering a very interesting vodka (which we immediately put to use, and we’ll talk about soon) and a perhaps even more interesting genever, rested in tequila barrels, which we’ll talk about now.

Genever is a maltier, more heavily herbal, older brother to gin. It’s like gin, but more so. Or maybe you could say it’s like a child born of the marriage of gin and whiskey. Wigle makes a genever (which they call ginever, we think out of deference to Holland, from where all true genevers are supposed to come) which we use frequently as a more intense substitute for gin. In a previous season, they offered a barrel-rested version. Resting a spirit in a barrel usually mellows it, smoothing the edges a bit, and this was no exception; it brought a caramel, softer tone to the usually in-your-face genever. The resulting spirit could be used as a sweeter substitute for gin, or as a lighter substitute for Scotch. We loved it in an old-fashioned.

This season, Wigle presents another barrel-rested ginever, this time rested in tequila barrels. It has that same mellow, very slightly caramel flavor, along with a hint of that peppery taste you get from a good reposado tequila.

Again, we immediately put it to use in an old fashioned, but a decidedly summer one.

Arriba a Summer! Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 oz Wigle’s Arriba! Ginever
• 2 tsp sugar
• .5 oz lime juice
• 8 mint leaves

Instructions

• Gently crush the mint leaves and drop them into the bottom of an old fashioned glass.
• Add the sugar and lime juice, and mix to saturate the sugar.
• Add the Ginever and stir gently to make sure the sugar is dissolved.
• Add ice.