For years, whisky’s been your father’s drink. It’s the spirit of choice for the old boy’s club. But that’s not the case anymore.

“Growing up, we’re used to seeing our fathers and grandfathers drinking whisky,” says Kimara Oram, marketing manager for Corby Distilleries’ agency brands. “We have this vision of men sitting around the boardroom table, smoking cigars and drinking whisky on the rocks.”

But that was then.

Today’s whisky drinker is younger and more likely to be female than in the past.

Women now comprise an estimated 30 per cent of Scotch whisky consumers. According to Marc Laverdiere, Canadian brand ambassador for The Macallan, Highland Park and The Famous Grouse Scotch whiskies, this is a trend that has been picking up speed over the last decade and is not likely to slow down.

Across the country, more women have been attending scotch tastings and festivals. The Spirit of Toronto whisky gala, founded by a woman, reports an increase in female attendance year over year.

“I’ve been attending whisky shows for the last six years, and when I started only two to five per cent of the people who came were women,” says Rob Oliver, Canada’s Distillery Diplomat for Maker’s Mark Kentucky Straight Bourbon. “Now it’s closer to 20 per cent, and these are women coming to drink whisky, not just with their husbands.”

Laverdiere says he has also noticed a higher percentage of women at whisky festivals across the country. Talking to attendees at these events in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia, he says more and more women are interested in discovering their own palate and learning more about the many flavours and notes that make up each whisky.

“Women are not afraid to experiment,” says Laverdiere. “And they delight in the many aromas discernable in the Scotch whisky profile, let alone the flavours. They recognize and enjoy the fact that the Scotch whisky experience is one of complexity and discovery.”

Straight whisky can be overpowering for anyone starting off with the spirit, but cocktails have made it easier for whisky makers and bar owners to reach a wider demographic, says Oliver.

“I think this category is starting to transcend gender and starting to be picked up more readily by women,” says Oram. “With the whisky culture moving away from just whisky on the rocks, and into whisky cocktails, it’s opening up a whole new demographic to target so it’s certainly nice to see.”

BACK TO BASICS

A focus on the classics is largely responsible for whisky’s current boost.

“For the longest time, whisky was reserved for scotch bars, older men and cigar clubs, where they would drink it either on the rocks, with a splash of water or neat,” says mixologist Patsy Christie, Beam Global Canada.

But the classic cocktail movement, which highlighted spirit-forward cocktails, has attracted a new breed of whisky drinkers. But it’s important to note that it’s not just women who are drinking whisky cocktails. Ten years ago, men started drinking them, too.

“The idea of putting whisky in a cocktail and the entire cocktail movement broke down all demographic walls,” says Christie. “It really shook the foundation. It’s not just for men, it’s not just for women and it’s not just for young people.”

She says she’s noticed more men are drinking mint juleps – a cocktail that was once thought to be fairly feminine because of its use of mint leaves, crushed ice and simple syrup.

But not anymore.

“What whisky cocktails did was tear down the wall. They invited women to get involved and they changed men’s perception of how you can drink it.”

CARVING OUT SPACE

Because there are many types of whisky, whisky should have the biggest portion of any bar owner’s back bar.

“The one thing about whisky – and this is what really makes it stand out – is that every bottle of whisky tastes different from another bottle of whisky. Even if you have different genres – scotch, bourbon, rye – inside those genres, they all taste different,” says Christie.

Whiskies are complex, and you’ll want one of every category, as well as different ages from three years up to 40- or 50-year-old whiskies. Don’t rule out flavoured whiskies either. Vanilla or cherry-flavoured whiskies entered the marketplace to draw non-traditional whisky drinkers into the category of brown spirits, according to Cam Matches of Phillips Distilling, the Canadian distributor of Union Whisky.

MIX AND MATCH

There are certain cocktails that lend themselves toward certain styles of whiskies. Each style of whisky has a different flavour profile and each flavour profile will interact differently with different mixes.

“A lot of people think you can take something as easy as a whisky sour and put any kind of whisky in there, and that’s not the case at all,” says Christie. “You put bourbon in a whisky sour as opposed to a Canadian whisky or an Irish whiskey and that bourbon drastically changes the cocktail. So it’s not that one is better than the other, it’s about finding the one that’s right for you, and sticking to it.”

For a whisky sour, Christie suggests bartenders use a somewhat heavy and strong whisky, such as bourbon to stand up to the strong heavy flavour of freshly squeezed lemon juice and simple syrup.

Lighter whiskies, like Canadian whisky for instance, may get lost behind the mix.

With a Manhattan, which is very sophisticated, light, detailed and complex, Christie favours a subtle and soft Canadian whisky.

Blended whiskies with natural fruit tones pair well with spicy ginger in a Ginger Grouse.

THE COCKTAIL MENU

While some progressive cocktail bars are starting to put whisky cocktails on their menu, most don’t. However, renewed interest in classic cocktails might get you thinking you should.

So how do you decide what to put on your menu and how many whisky cocktails to offer?
Simple. It depends on the venue.

In a cocktail bar, aiming to make quality cocktails using fresh fruit juices, you’ll likely find 10 to 20 cocktails on their menu. Of that, Christie says no less than one-third should be whisky cocktails.

The Martini Club’s Laura Panter says whisky should make up a smaller percentage of the cocktail menu, maybe 15 to 20 per cent of your cocktail list. Any way you slice it, experts agree that whisky cocktails belong on your menu. “The thing with whisky is, with tequila you really have three genres: plata, reposado and anejo. With gin you have two genres: old school gin and modern gin – heavy or soft and sophisticated. With vodka you really have one genre, minus flavoured vodkas.

But whisky, the reason you give whisky so much real estate on your cocktail menu is that there are so many different genres and each and every bottle tastes different,” says Christie.

“You’re talking about such a huge spirit genre that you would be cheating your menu if you didn’t have a lot of whisky cocktails on it,” says Christie.

Experimenting with whisky cocktails using fruit or mint is a way to get the girls to drink them, says Michelle Hunt of the Martini Club in Toronto, but leaning on the classics, like an Old Fashioned, is crucial if you want the male demographic as well.

OPENING EYES AND LIPS

The easiest way to move whisky cocktails is to offer tastings or samples in your bar. Promote them on the menu, educate your staff, but let your customers taste mini whisky cocktails, using one-quarter ounce of whisky for free or in whisky cocktail flights.

“If you want to convert people, you’ve got to put liquid on the lips,” says Hunt. “If you could implement a flight program, maybe three small whisky cocktails, you could get a lot of lift.”

It’s the same idea as wine. If someone sits at your bar, or at a table and you’re serving them,   you can give them a taste to see if it’s to their liking. The same is true of whisky cocktails.
The effectiveness of offering a taste to consumers is unparalleled when trying to get people over their hang-ups.

Hunt and Panter recently put on the Toronto Drinks Show, showcasing cocktail creations to consumers. Hunt says she watched young women taste whisky cocktail creations – like the Mint Divine, which was a favourite at the show – and swoon.

So if you’re looking to expand the reach of whisky in your bar, ensure staff interest in the category

“I really believe that a bartender should have sampled every single cocktail on the menu and should be able to describe it,” says Christie. “A whisky cocktail is more than just the whisky. It’s the whisky, the ingredients, the experience of it, the texture. There’s a lot that goes into a whisky cocktail, so if a bartender can describe not just the taste but the experience of it as well, that goes a long way. You need an educated sales force.”

WHISKY COCKTAIL RECIPES

MINT DIVINE

Ingredients
1 ½ oz Crown Royal
5 mint leaves, torn
5 oz lemonade
1 oz fresh blueberries
Mint sprig

Mixing instructions
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add Crown Royal, mint leaves and lemonade. Shake and strain into a tall glass with ice. Sprinkle with fresh blueberries and garnish with a mint sprig.
Source: The Martini Club

BLUEBERRY SMASH

Ingredients
2 oz Gibson’s Finest 12 year old
1 oz Ocean Spray cran-blueberry juice
½ lime, chopped
2 tsp superfine sugar
1 tsp frozen wild blueberries
½ lime

Mixing instructions
To a rocks glass, add chopped lime, sugar and frozen wild blueberries. Muddle well. Fill the glass with ice and Gibson’s Finest 12 year old and Ocean Spray juice. Stir to mix and garnish with lime.
Source: The Martini Club

PEPPERED APRICOT

Ingredients
1 ½ oz Glenmorangie (La Santa)
3 oz apricot juice
1 tsp cinnamon syrup
1 grind (1/8 tsp) mixed peppercorns

Mixing instructions
Shake and strain into a rocks glass with ice or cocktail glass.
Source: The Martini Club

MAKER’S MARK BOURBON SOUR

Ingredients
2 oz Maker’s Mark Bourbon
1 oz simple syrup
¾ oz fresh lemon juice

Mixing instructions
Combine ingredients into a Boston shaker. Shake well over ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange slice and a cherry.
Source: Maker’s Mark

THE CANADIAN MAPLE LEAF

Ingredients
2 oz Canadian Club Premium
½ lemon, juice
1oz maple syrup
Fresh Ice

Mixing instructions
Fill rocks glass with ice, pour lemon juice and whisky over ice, top with maple syrup, stir and enjoy.
Source: Canadian Club

MAKER’S MARK MINT JULEP

Ingredients
2 oz of mint infused Maker’s Mark
½ oz sugar syrup
Powdered sugar
Mint sprig

Mixing instructions
Combine ingredients and shake vigorously with ice until frost forms on shaker tin. Pack Julep cups with crushed ice until mounded over the top. Pour the Mint Julep into the cup. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the top of the ice. Garnish with a mint sprig. Place a small bore straw into the cup and cut it off about ¾ of an inch above the top of the ice. (This is so you put your nose into the mint sprig while enjoying the Julep). By chilling the Mint Julep overnight, the ice in the Julep cups will not melt very fast, and the drink may be sipped slowly over a long time.
Source: Maker’s Mark