The Hammer Highball

I’m toasting this brilliant box with a variation on the classic highball. The highball is a great example of how a few simple ingredients and a straightforward recipe can create something more than the sum of its parts. Whiskey and soda, a time honored working man’s drink that’s also the height of elegance and precision. The story, which any truly great cocktail must have, attributes the “invention” of the highball to Patrick Gavin Duffy, bartender at Manhattan’s Ashland House in the 1890’s. Putting whiskey, ice and soda (or ginger ale) together was not a thing people did back then, until then. A highball was a railroad term for the ball connected to a float inside a steam train’s water tank,that indicated when there was enough water in the tank for the train to head out. The conductor would signal the all clear with two short and one long blast on his horn. That’s the classic ratio in a highball – two short of whiskey, one long of soda. The highball faded from fashion in the US after a time, but was picked up by the Japanese, who refined it to a sharp point in the 1920’s when whiskey production began to take off in Japan. Like a tea ceremony, building a proper Japanese highball involves meticulous attention to details such as the glass, the ice, the temperature, even the number of times the drink is stirred.

The only Hammer you should use on this box

Highballs are back in fashion again. Modern day bartenders can argue all night long about the proper ingredients, ratios, and build technique in a good highball. They are a fantastic and refreshing way to enjoy a whiskey, or any other type of spirit, on a hot summer afternoon. I’ve created a warm and savory variation on the theme, to extend the pleasure of this long drink into the cooler months. This highball is built around the peaty single malt Lagavulin, an incredible scotch probably best enjoyed neat, but let’s make things interesting. To that end I’ve infused the scotch with some seriously decadent bacon using the standard fat-wash technique to create some smoky, bacon-y goodness. Maybe I’m just hamming around here, but it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s a damn fine drink to enjoy while looking around for a hammer to use on this puzzle box. Cheers!

The Hammer Highball

1-2 oz bacon infused Lagavulin (1 oz is modern, 2 oz is classic)

4 oz soda water

4 dashes celery bitters

Build ingredients over ice in a highball glass. Stir slowly 12 times for luck. If you want to be really pompous, stir the whiskey, bitters and ice first to chill then pour the soda water down the length of the stirring spoon.

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