In the Mood for Something Tall and Refreshing: 10 Cocktails with Bourbon You Gotta Try Now! And 8 Best Bourbons in India.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Bourbon with the zest of 1 orange peeled into large strips
• 20 gm of dried plum or any other aromatic bitter and a medium cinnamon stick
• 3 whole cloves
• 10 whole allspice berries

Recipe

• Mix all the ingredients in a large mason jar or a bottle and shut it tightly.
• Shake it well and let it sit for some time, say a few days to a few weeks.
• If you find the flavour too strong, you’d distil it to your liking and let the infusion rest again for a week or so to mellow it down.

Ingredients

• 2 oz simple syrup
• 4 oz bourbon
• 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp orange marmalade
• 2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• an egg white
• 1 tbsp fresh orange juice.

Recipe

• Boil the simple syrup with a sprig of rosemary in a small saucepan and let it cool down after discarding the herb.
• Then, pour the syrup into a cocktail shaker with marmalade, lemon juice and bourbon, add ice and shake it all until it chills. Strain the liquid into a highball glass topped with ice.
• Next, add the maple syrup, egg white and orange syrup to the cocktail shaker and shake the mix until it turns frothy.
• Spoon the lather atop the cocktail and garnish it with the other rosemary sprig.

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

• a cup or two of water (depending on how strong you’d like it)
• 4 slices of fresh ginger (1/4” wide)
• 4 oz bourbon
• 4 tbsp brown sugar
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 4 star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks broken into two pieces each
• 8 pods of cardamom
• 4 slices of lemon for garnishing

Recipe

• Boil the water with ginger in it and line up 4 cups each filled with a tbsp. of sugar, 1 tsp of lemon juice, ½ cinnamon stick, 2 pods of cardamom and 1 star anise.
• Pour ¼ cup of boiling water into each mug and add an oz of bourbon into each cup, stirring the mix, and then take out all spices, except star anise.
• Serve the hot toddy garnished with a lemon slice.

Ingredients

• A fresh sprig of thyme
• 2 shots of bourbon
• ½ shot of maple syrup
• ½ shot of fresh lemon juice

Recipe

• Strip the thyme off its sprig and put it inside, at the bottom of the shaker, mixing it up with all the other ingredients.
• Shake it all with ice and fine strain it into an old-fashioned ice-laden glass.
• Garnish the cocktail with a lemon zest twist, expressed and discarded and the thyme sprig.

Ingredients

• 3 oz whole milk
• 2 oz bourbon
• 1 oz simple syrup
• 2 dash of vanilla extract
• grated nutmeg for garnishing

Recipe

• Mix all the ingredients in a shaker with ice and keep shaking till it gets chilled.
• Strain the punch cocktail into a rocks glass and garnish with the grated nutmeg.

Ingredients

• Peeled and sliced large peaches
• Pint sized jars
• Large cutting board and a knife

Recipe

• Slice the peaches into thick wedges and fill the jars up 2/3 of the way with the slices.
• Next pour bourbon into the jars, till the peaches are covered, leaving about ½ inch of headspace at the top and screw the lid on tightly.
• Store the jars in the refrigerator for about a week to let the flavours infuse.
• When you’re ready, strain the peaches from the jars and use the Peach Bourbon as a cocktail mix.

Ingredients

• 4 ½ cups of apple cider
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• A cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• 1 star anise
• 8oz bourbon
• 4 slices orange for garnishing
• sugar (optional) for rimming the glass

Recipe

• Begin by putting apple cider, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and orange juice into a small pot and bring it all to a boil. Then lower the heat, and let the mix simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and strain it into a pitcher. Next, rim the glass with sugar.
• Add 2 oz bourbon and a cup of the cider mix into the glass and garnish with an orange slice and cinnamon stick. Serve it warm or chill and serve.

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz bourbon
• 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• ¾ oz jaggery/ simple syrup
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• orange slices and maraschino cherries or ginger candy

Recipe

• Mix the Bourbon, lime juice, tamarind concentrate and simple or jaggery syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake it all up for about 30-60 seconds.
• Strain the cocktail into a rocks glass with ice and garnish the drink with an orange slice and cherry or candied ginger.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Cutler’s 33 bourbon
• .5oz organic lemon juice
• .75 oz of strawberry puree and honey (each)
• Honeycomb and lavender flowers.

Recipe

• Mix all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously,
• Then pour the drink over the ice in a stemless wine glass and garnish with lavender flowers and honeycomb.

Ingredients

• Roughly chopped ½ honey crisp apple
• 2 tsp honey
• 4 oz bourbon
• fresh and grated nutmeg
• a pinch of ground cardamom
• apple slices + cinnamon sticks for garnishing

Recipe

• Mix the apple and honey in a cocktail shaker until they're completely blended/smashed and you get the desired liquid.
• Add to it the Bourbon, lemon juices, few grates of the nutmeg and cardamom.
• Top the shaker with ice and keep shaking it energetically till you find it completely chilled.
• Fill your rocks glasses with ice and strain the cocktail into them, garnishing with grated nutmeg, an apple slice and cinnamon stick.

• Jack Daniels Tennessee – is a decent snifter where you can actually taste the usual white oak Kentucky straight bourbon and if you mix it with sugary maple syrup, then it becomes all the more pleasurable! Priced between Rs.4,000-5,000 across different cities.


• Jim Beam Black Label – is a 6-year-old classic bourbon caramel, which when mixed with vanilla on the nose and a bit of orange zest makes your palate silky smooth with a tinge of honey and toffee and a citrusy flavoured finish. Priced between Rs.2,340-2,650 across different cities.


• Buffalo Trace Bourbon – is a classy make from the eponymous distillery and is a typically smooth, well-balanced drink with a perfect finish of oak and spice. Priced at Rs.3,000 approx.


• Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee – is super-premium, handcrafted at the Jack Daniel Distillery with remarkable complexity and flavour, best consumed neat. Priced at Rs.4,500.


• 1792 Ridgemont Reserve – is appreciated for its fruity, custard, butterscotch and rye flavours and is a Kentucky straight Bourbon produced at the Barton Distillery in Kentucky. Priced between Rs.3,700-4,500 across different cities


• Michter’s US *1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon – is typically made in small batches with no more than 2 dozen barrels at a time and comes out as a distinct, mellow and earthy Bourbon, with a spicier version in Rye and upcoming flavours of Sour Mash and American Whiskey. Priced between Rs.8,817-17,463 across different cities


• Templeton Rye – is medium amber with a hint of honey and dry grass at the nose and a classic rye flavour, with strong baked spices, creamy butterscotch and caramel playing on the palate and a smooth & spicy, well-blended finish. Priced between Rs.4,900-9,800 across different cities


• Maker’s Mark – is one of the few whiskies made of wheat, where the rye is replaced with red winter wheat in the mash and bottled in a square-shaped decanter with a signature red was dripping down its neck with a smooth, fruity and creamy liquid within. Priced between Rs.5,000-7,500 across different cities.