A cranberry shrub recipe for International Whiskey Day

I’m not sure where I developed my affinity for brown aged spirits called whiskey. Growing up, my parents only drank something called a Tom Collins and that was only about 3 or 4 times a year. All I know is that as young as 21, I would order a whiskey and soda. So we’re talking relatively pure stuff.

It was unusual for a young woman to drink whiskey, too, back then. I got a few odd stares, but there was something about the round, full mouthfeel and the slight burn as it slid down my throat that made me feel warm and fuzzy. Ok, so maybe literally, but that’s another story.

Here we are on International Whiskey Day, and I just had to sing the pleasures of a great whiskey. I won’t be a snob about which version. I lean toward a rye whiskey with its spicier, drier zing. But I won’t send a bourbon or scotch home if it were the only brown spirit in the house.

Women and whiskey

A couple of decades ago, it suddenly became trendy for women to be whiskey lovers. I’d get my drink and suddenly find I was surrounded by other women doing the same instead of getting gawked at by women holding glasses of chardonnay. And then came the swapping of tales about which boutique brand we liked – and these days there are a lot of boutique craft distillers, too.

On our travels, I’m the first to swivel my head and say, look, let’s go there, waving my finger at a whiskey parlor. Although I admit feeling a little overwhelmed at a restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, recently where the whiskey menu was 54 pages long with line after line of every kind you could imagine. Guess that would be a given in a town with a long heritage of whiskey dating back to the 1700s. Still young in the whiskey world, though, with mentions of whiskey going back hundreds of years prior.

It was just a few years ago, however, that I had the gift of sipping on a Kavalan Solist Fino at a BBQ restaurant in Modesto. The owner, Robert Wilson, used to sip whiskey with his dad during father-and-son talks so the casual grill has a hidden secret: Lots of whiskey (aside from pretty nice BBQ, too). So when he heard I was a “whiskey gal,” he dashed off for glasses. And that’s how I had a taste of a $600-a-bottle single malt whiskey. Makes me smile.

I like a shrub as a whiskey mixer

International Whiskey Day is a new celebration, with March 27 being dubbed such in 2008 at a Whiskey Festival in Northern Netherlands. In honor of that, I will dip into my cranberry shrub, add a shot of one of my whiskeys, and toast the day. What is a shrub you might say? It’s a simple infused concoction that combines a fruit, herb, or vegetable of choice with apple cider vinegar and sugar. Not too sugary, a tart tang from the vinegar, and just the right not-so-sweet mixer for whiskey on International Whiskey Day – or any day. (If you don’t imbibe, then feel free to take your shrub infusion of choice and mix it with soda water for a very refreshing drink.)

And you can make your own with our recipe. I’ve tried to make a lot of types of shrubs – cantaloupe, lemon, lime, watermelon, etc. – but I keep coming back to cranberry. There is something about this berry, tart in itself, that in my opinion mixes so well with the vinegar and sugar, becoming the perfect partner to whiskey. Be sure to keep the whiskey the star of your shrub drink though! Because on International Whiskey Day, it IS all about the whiskey!

Do you have any favorite brands of whiskey? I’d love to hear about them. Also, if you come up with a shrub infusion you truly like, let us know!