WHISKEY SOUR RECIPE

We're releasing our very first barrel of single malt whiskey on Saturday. RSVP and come early if you want to get a bottle. So you get a bottle, bring it home, and then what? You make a Whiskey Sour.

You just cannot go wrong with this drink: smooth and airy, with a gentle tang and a nice, foamy cap. Your dad likes it. Your bestie likes it. Even your co-worker who definitely does not like whiskey likes it. There's a reason a Whiskey Sour is known as the white T-shirt of cocktails.

A note on your shaking technique: cocktails like this one that call for egg white are usually shaken in two steps. The first is a so-called dry shake without ice — this emulsifies the egg white. Then, add ice and shake a second time, which chills and properly dilutes the drink. Cheers!

WHISKEY SOUR

Makes 1 cocktail

2 ounces Cardinal Spirits Whiskey
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 ounce fresh squeezed lime juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
brandied cherry and bitters, for garnish

Combine ingredients in a shaker without ice, and shake vigorously to emulsify the egg white. Then, add ice to the shaker and shake again to chill. Strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with a brandied cherry and a couple dashes of bitters.

FIRST WHISKEY BARREL RELEASE

We are bottling our first ever barrel of whiskey this week, and will release it on Saturday, Dec. 5, which happens to be Repeal Day, the date Prohibition ended. What timing!

This is a single malt whiskey, made from 100 percent malted barley from Sugar Creek Malt Co. in Lebanon, Ind. As far as we know, this is the very first craft single malt whiskey in Indiana. 

We are thrilled to be able to share this whiskey with you before the end of this year, our first year of business. A distillery only releases its first barrel once, you know. So if you're interested in purchasing a bottle (375ml for $30) please RSVP and come early.

Emptying the whiskey barrel into the tank in preparation for bottling.

5 things you should know about our whiskey:

1. WE ARE RELEASING JUST ONE (1) BARREL. There are roughly 53 gallons of whiskey in that barrel.

2. IT TASTES TOASTY, MALTY, SPICY. And there's definitely some welcome sweetness to it, which comes from the way we distill it. Our house flavor, if you will. Its home for the better part of this year was a charred American oak barrel — traditionally used for bourbon, but we used it for our single malt whiskey.

3. OUR WHISKEY WAS AGED ON SITE AT THE DISTILLERY. When you take a tour, we'll show you the other barrels that are waiting for their big day to come.

4. WE DIDN'T ADD ANY COLOR TO THIS WHISKEY. Did you know that some distilleries add caramel coloring to their spirits to make them look more mature? What's that all about? We're not even going there. Ours went straight from the barrel to the bottle without any tinkering.

5. WE WEREN'T PLANNING TO RELEASE WHISKEY THIS SOON, but you tasted it and told us to do it. We offered samples of what we had aging to whiskey drinkers who we know have good taste, and over and over again, we heard, "It's ready to go." And here we are.

Jason, Doug, Jeff, Adam, Justin and Rob. Happy faces after a couple of stressful minutes of emptying the whiskey barrel. 

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 12

Links that make you go Hmmm.

We've got all new Tiki Tuesday drinks with a wonderful, wintry twist — like the one above with Standard Dry Gin, pineapple shrub, lapsang souchong syrup, lime and sage. 

Is there a more polarizing liqueur than this one?

Eating — and drinking — invasive species.

Diddy's birthday apple pie was 30 inches across, had 30 pounds of flour, 20 pounds of sugar — and zero drops of the apple-flavored Ciroc that Diddy just launched. Missed opportunity?

Cocktails for Dingdongs and other new booze books that might be fun to gift (or get).

LEFTOVERS PUNCH RECIPE

Making cocktails for a crowd this weekend?
This is the only recipe you need.

This punch is the best possible use for leftover poultry herbs, which you're bound to have after Thanksgiving meal prep. Make a little bundle of stray rosemary, thyme and sage, and plunk it in tart cranberry juice with clove-studded citrus and our vodka for a festive punch.

Mix it up tonight, chill, and set it out just before guests arrive on Thanksgiving. 

LEFTOVERS PUNCH

By Logan Hunter

2⅓ cups Cardinal Spirits Vodka (about ¾ bottle)
1 gallon pure unsweetened cranberry juice
15 cloves
2 oranges, sliced
1 cup sugar
1 whole vanilla bean, sliced lengthwise, or 1 ounce vanilla extract
Poultry blend herbs (1 sprig each of sage, rosemary, thyme)

Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl and stir to dissolve sugar. Refrigerate and let chill overnight so that flavors meld. Strain if desired before serving.

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 11

Links that make you go Hmmm.

3 outstanding cocktails to make with Nocino, our new walnut liqueur.

Would you rather breathe in booze or drink it?

Here's what graced Gourmet magazine's covers decades ago this month: wassail in December 1953, eggnog in December 1943, and a glass of brandy in December 1941.

This is kind of a big deal.

If you're into snagging cocktail ingredients in the wild, then put this Forager's Cocktails recipe book on your wish list. 

HOLIDAY GIFT BOXES ARE HERE

A short list of people in your life who will love a Cardinal Spirits holiday gift box:

Mom.
Postman.
Your receptionist.
Friendsgiving host.
Uncle Steve.
Bestie.
Frenemy.
Aziz Ansari.
Julie and Jason, who just had a baby.
That guy you want to impress.
Your kid's teacher.
Ryan and Lauren, who just bought a house.
That federal agent, who keeps asking all those questions.
Your paleo friend.
That account you want to win.

Our holiday gift boxes are HERE! Available at the distillery only, starting Friday, through the holidays for as long as they last (probably not that long). To be safe: You can pre-order them right this second.

Even the actual cardboard boxes are local — they were manufactured in Columbus, Ind., at Columbus Container Corp. Locally made products in locally made packaging — it does not get more local than that, folks. 

Here's what we've got:

Gift Box 1
Set of 3 half-size bottles of Vodka, Tiki Rum and Standard Dry Gin

Gift Box 2
Set of 3 half-size bottles of Vodka, Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur and Songbird Flora

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Songbird Coffee Kit
Full-size bottle of Songbird Craft Coffee Liqueur and two glass coffee mugs

Moscow Mule Kit
Full-size bottle of Vodka and two pure copper mugs

Video by Anna Powell Teeter

MEET OUR CREW: KEVIN HINKLE

We've got a spectacular crew here at Cardinal Spirits, and we'd like you to meet everybody one by one. Today, get to know Kevin, one of our wonderful bartenders.

KEVIN HINKLE

HOMETOWN
Portage, Ind.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED IN BLOOMINGTON?
4 years

BEST PART ABOUT LIVING HERE?
I like the people. This town is chock-full of talented, hard-working individuals...
and a great selection of food.

FAVORITE DRINK?
Any IPA I can get my hands on.

GO-TO DRINK AT CARDINAL?
Zelda's Return... so good.

FIRST JOB?
Throughout middle school and high school a couple friends and I ran a highly successful lawn care company. Our only clients were my friend's stepmom and her boss.

MAKE A PREDICTION ABOUT THE FUTURE:
I have a good feeling about John Stewart moving to HBO.

FAVORITE CEREAL?
Great Grains Cranberry Almond Crunch

IF YOU COULD HAVE A DRINK WITH ANYONE…
I'd love to have a drink and play a round of golf with Chevy Chase in Caddyshack

FIND KEVIN
On Instagram @kevinhinkle  |  On Facebook

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MICHELLE GOTTSCHLICH

ALEX UTTER

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CHRIS RESNICK

ALYVIA CAIN

CRAFTPACK, VOL. 10

Links that make you go Hmmm.

If you dig signature cocktails or have a penchant for punch, then you'll love our Holiday Spirits + Cocktails for a Crowd class this Wednesday. (Free bottle of your favorite Cardinal spirit for signing up!)

Speaking of entertaining: it's fun to peruse these vintage punch bowls from the legendary (and local) Indiana Glass company. And - another pretty punch set.

20 fall wines under $20 is a handy list!

Anatomy of the hot cocktail. 

NOCINO SOUR COCKTAIL RECIPE

We can’t get enough of this cocktail during fall and winter. It’s just right for colder months: Naturally warming, and holiday-ish without being holiday-ish, you know what we mean? The star spirit is Nocino, a green walnut liqueur that we release every November.

If you want to know more about how we made this special liqueur, it's all right here, from walnut to bottle.

NOCINO SOUR

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 ounces Cardinal Spirits Nocino
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce demerara syrup
1/4 ounce sweet vermouth
3 dashes Angostura bitters

 Shake all ingredients well with ice, then strain into a coupe glass.

MORE NOCINO COCKTAIL RECIPES:

WALNUT MANHATTAN

MILK PUNCH

MILK PUNCH RECIPE

Milk Punch is one of those cocktails with a name that is not helping its image. A punch, made of milk? Hmmm.

"Oh, I'll try just a sip of yours," you'll say cautiously to a friend. "I don't think I could finish a whole one." 

But then you sip this creamy, dreamy, frothy little concoction and it becomes immediately clear that you could finish a whole one ... maybe a few whole ones, actually.

A classic milk punch is brandy or bourbon, milk, sugar and vanilla, shaken until ice cold.

Our rum-based version, created by Cardinal bartender Chris Resnick, is one of the best twists on a milk punch that we've ever had. It calls for a splash of Nocino, the smooth, earthy green-walnut liqueur that we are releasing this Saturday.  (Join us, won't you? Free samples, special cocktails, bottle sales.) Even though this cocktails is steps away from a milkshake, the nocino adds a kind of warmth that you'll love.

MILK PUNCH

By Chris Resnick

Makes 1 cocktail

1.5 ounce Cardinal Spirits Tiki Rum
3/4 ounce Cardinal Spirits Nocino
1 ounce heavy cream
large spoonful of apple preserves

Shake all ingredients vigorously with ice, then strain into a glass with ice.