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Eleven/Eleven: A Scotch Cocktail!

Eleven/Eleven A Scotch Cocktail with Cardamom and Apple

Raise your glass. I’ve got a Scotch cocktail I’m calling Eleven/Eleven. It’s made with Hart Brothers Bowmore 11 Year Old Scotch Whisky and an applejack infused with 11 cardamom pods (hence Eleven/Eleven). I think you’ll like it. It’s a special occasion Scotch cocktail.

You see, it’s my Birthday. Yep, today’s the day. November 11th. Eleven/Eleven: A Scotch cocktail!

Eleven/Eleven A Scotch Cocktail with Cardamom and Apple

Don’t ask how old I am though. Not that I wouldn’t tell you– it’s just that I’m so old, I can’t quite remember how old I actually am.

Yes. That happens.

When you’re 11, you’re 11. You don’t care because you’re a kid. When you’re 12. You can’t wait to be 13, a teenager. When you’re 27– well, 28 sounds great. In those days it’s easy to remember how old you are. Then comes the blur of your 30s and 40s. One birthday seems exactly the same as the other. Pretty soon you’ve been 36 way too many years in a row. So I gotta think of a new age. Once I decide, you’ll be the first to know. I promise.

In the meantime how are we going to celebrate? I am not really a “gifts” kind of guy. Presents always make me uncomfortable– in an I’m not worthy kind of way. It can be so excruciating, even when I love the present. Because I always manage to come across as ungrateful. I can be such a prickly bastard. I don’t know why. In actuality I have never been given a gift I didn’t love wholeheartedly. I just have trouble expressing it in any way other than an I’m not worthy kind of way.

It’s kind of like that scene in the movie Harold and Maude. Harold gives Maude a token of his love and she flings it into the bay as Harold watches in astonishment. She then sighs contentedly and says– “so I’ll always know where it is.”

It’s not that she didn’t love her present, it’s just the emotions of the moment overwhelmed her, and she acted unconventionally. Well, I’m unconventional like Maude, only younger and not as good looking– don’t make any jokes, because I’ve heard them all before.

So raise your glass, and sip this Scotch Cocktail. Eleven/Eleven. It’s better than a Seven and Seven– because it’s my birthday. GREG

Eleven/Eleven A Scotch Cocktail with Cardamom and Apple

Eleven/Eleven

Print This Recipe Total time Yield 1Published

You don’t need to dry shake if you are not using egg white.

Eleven/Eleven a Scotch Cocktail

Ingredients

  • 1 cup applejack
  • 11 cardamom pods (lightly cracked)
  • 2 ounce Hart Brothers Bowmore 11 Year Old Scotch Whisky
  • ½ ounce maple syrup
  • ½ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon egg white
  • 1 lemon wheel (as garnish)

Directions

Make the cardamom infusion: Pour applejack into a 2‑cup lidded jar; add cardamom pods. Cover tightly with lid and shake gently. Place in a dark, cool area and shake gently every few days. After two weeks, strain infused applejack into a clean jar or bottle. This makes more than you need for one cocktail. Store covered in a cool dark place.

Make the cocktail: Pour 1 ounce infused applejack, scotch, maple syrup, lemon juice and egg white (if using) into a cocktail shaker. Cover and vigorously “dry shake” for about 30 seconds to combine. Uncap, fill the shaker 2/3 full with medium ice cubes, and shake vigorously until frothy, at least 30 seconds. Using a Hawthorn strainer, double strain through a wire-mesh sieve over one extra-large ice cube into a double old fashioned glass. Wait a moment for the foam to rise, then garnish with a lemon wheel.