December! That means Christmas! It also means Repeal Day – dost ye know what that is? No? Well let me tell you with the help of Evans & Peel and Old Forester bourbon who have teamed up to bring you a bespoke cocktail – The Executioner! *trembles in boots*

So, Repeal Day is the day Prohibition ended in the United States in 1933 and therefore, being a speakeasy and all, Evans & Peel are the perfect partner to snuggle up to. This literal underground bar is nestled unassumingly in a street less than 10 minutes from Earl’s Court tube and I couldn’t wait to see what it was all about!

To get in you have to buzz the door (you really wouldn’t know it was a bar unless you were in the know), let them know you’re there for a case and you’ll be led down to the Detective’s Office where questioning will begin.  I won’t give too much away and spoil the experience for you, but I had a bit of fun with this and its definitely a great way to enter a bar.

Inside it’s a lot bigger than I’d imagined which is refreshing from being crammed into a smaller sized room with a ton of people (the preconceived idea I had) – lovely! When seated you are given a clipboard type menu which is pretty tatty, but this fits with the Prohibition speakeasy style as it was all very hush hush back then with laminated fresh menus not being a priority. Tables are lit by dim bulbs and a lot of candlelight – I bet this place would be great for a date.

A little bit about Old Forester then…this was America’s first bottled bourbon and is the only bourbon to be distilled pre, post and during prohibition by the same founding Kentucky family. Impressive, and since 1870 too!

Getting down to business, we ordered The Executioner – dun dun duuuuuuuun!!! I was served a frozen glass with some dramatic blood splashes and a separate vial full of the cocktail itself.  Now when I imagined a cocktail I was thinking a glass full of something – this one was more of a spirit and ice sized drink so something to take your time over rather than quench thirst or refresh you.  It warmed my cockles yet tasted slightly floral and the texture was more syrupy than other bourbons I’ve tried, but only a tad. It was definitely very focused on the bourbon itself, and from reading up on Old Forester I’m not shocked as to why this is the case – needing to fully appreciate the rich taste to match the equally hefty heritage of  this impressive bourbon.

If you like whiskey definitely give this a crack. I think I would have liked some ice in my glass but apart from that I give it a thumbs up. Definitely stronger than my usual tipple but it represents Prohibition well when I don’t imagine fancy cocktails were really the priority!

Want to know more or fancy making this yourself? Check out the recipe for The Executioner below.

Ingredients:

45ml Old Forester
A pinch of salt
Two drops of Yuzu citrus oils
Two drops of hickory smoke
A dash of bitters
Blood (red cocoa butter and 7.5ml sugar syrup)

Method:

Put everything in a mixing glass with ice and stir thoroughly
Decant into glass bottle and freeze
Decorate serving glass with splashes of ‘blood’ and serve with frozen bottle

Take a trip to Evans and Peel to give this a crack if what you’ve read tickles your fancy.  It’ll be a guaranteed interesting trip, we will definitely be back for more cocktail based case cracking in 2017.

Bottoms up!

Forked by Stefpuff

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