“Whiskey is liquid sunshine” ~ George Bernard Shaw

I was thrilled to receive the gift* of The Whistler Trilogy over the holidays. Staying in place is more the rule than the exception right now and I have been spending a lot of time experimenting with new flavors & ingredients in the kitchen and in our home bar.

The Whistler Trilogy is a “series of whiskey based expressions” and includes the Beekeepers Select which is Irish whiskey with honey liqueur, the Distillers Select Double Oaked whiskey (this one is small batch, triple distilled) and the Blenders Select small batched Irish Cream liqueur. They were all produced by Boann Distillery

Boann Distillery is an Origin Green Sustainable producer and is owned by the Cooney family. The distillery is located in the heart of the Boyne Valley in Meath, Ireland, around 30 minutes north of Dublin.

“Combining their family traditions and technical know-how, Boann’s Master Distiller, Family Beekeeper and Master Blender, came together to craft a whiskey-based trilogy that showcases some of the finest whiskey, smoothest honey and freshest cream that Ireland has to offer.”

“Our specially designed and distinctive nano-copper stills and fine oak cask cellars, ensure we produce a whiskey of distinct character with a real sense of place.” ~ Boann Distillery

St. Patrick’s Day is rapidly approaching and our annual celebration will have to be put on the back burner for a second time due to the pandemic. John and I have looked forward to hosting this gathering for more years than I can remember. It has been a re-emergence of sorts, heralding the impending and much anticipated arrival of spring. If you live in Minnesota, you know what this means, from about November through March, we are in hibernation mode. The St. Patrick’s Day party was a great way to catch up with those we missed seeing during those often frigid winter months, and we cherished reconnecting over whiskey drinks and Irish cuisine. While there are certainly no replacements for time spent with friends and family, we still plan to indulge in some delicious desserts and Irish spirit based cocktails this holiday.

I relish the idea of marrying global products with locally produced ingredients and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to include both in this post. Below I have provided 3 recipes and each one incorporates The Whistler Whiskey spirits in combination with some of our marvelous Minnesota made ingredients/products.

The Whistler Small Batch Irish Cream liqueur

The Whistler Irish Cream has an “Incredibly velvety mouthfeel, with heaps of creamy milk chocolate, toffee, and a hint of coffee all followed by a delicious warmth and pot still spice brought by the Irish whiskey.” ~ Boann Disillery

My Mother is an extraordinary baker and she has passed that ardor onto me. The recipe for these Irish cream cookies comes from her. My unique ingredient additions were: Whistler Irish Cream, local chocolate, and and blood orange zest. The addition of this Irish cream was the perfect accompaniment to the other flavor profiles in this recipe.

Interesting sustainability fact: The high quality cream for this Irish Cream blend comes from grass fed cows.

The Whistler Small Batch Irish Cream liqueur cookies with chocolate chunks and orange zest

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup Whistler Irish Cream
• 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 8 ounces dark chocolate, chopped ( I used a combination of Hacienda San Josẻ 80% dark chocolate with nibs and Hacienda San Josẻ 100 % dark chocolate)
• 1 teaspoon of grated blood orange zest (you can use regular orange if blood orange is not available)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Blend butter, sugars and vanilla in a large bowl until creamy.   Add egg and Irish Cream, blend until combined.
3. Sift flour, baking soda and salt together into a medium bowl then gradually add to the wet ingredients and blend until combined.  
4. Stir in chopped chocolate and orange zest.  
5. Drop onto ungreased baking sheets by rounded tablespoons.  Bake 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are golden and tops are set.  

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

The Whistler Small Batch Irish Cream Liqueur And Espresso Cocktail

Ingredients

• 3 ounces of The Whistler Small Batch Irish Cream Liqueur
• 1 shot strong espresso, cooled – I chose locally roasted coffee beans for this portion of the recipe. The beans were from Norte Cafe
• Whipped Cream with Whiskey and Espresso (I used some of the coffee-whiskey whipped cream from the Chocolate Irish whiskey cake recipe provided farther down in this article)
• ¼ cup chopped dark chocolate curls for garnish

Directions

1.  Pour Whistler Irish Cream and cooled espresso into the chilled martini glass and stir.
2. Garnish with whipped cream, chopped chocolate 
3. Serve immediately

The Whistler Distillers Select Double Oaked Whiskey

“A hand selected, premium Irish whiskey expression that is crafted in small batches using some of Ireland’s finest malt and grain whiskeys. Our Head Distiller selects the finest whiskeys matured exclusively in ex-bourbon barrels before transferring them into our signature Oloroso sherry barrels for six months, which create a complex and full bodied whiskey.” ~ Boann Distillery

Chocolate Irish Whiskey Cake

Click here for the recipe for the Chocolate Irish Whiskey Cake shown below. This recipe came from Fine Cooking and was written by tremendously talented pastry chef, Gale Gand. The hints of salted caramel, vanilla, light oak and spices in the whiskey accented the chocolate in this recipe beautifully.

Modifications/Cooks Experience: The recipe called for three cake layers however I created mine with two. This meant I needed to adjust the baking time a bit and I knew I would have to monitor the baking process closely to make sure the cake was not over-cooked or under-cooked when I pulled it from the oven. This was the first time that I used an instant read thermometer to test the temperature of a cake and it worked marvelously. After a little research, I learned that the cake should be done when the internal temperature reaches about 210 degrees. I will make this part of my baking routine going forward as the results spoke for themselves and took the guess work out of the process. The toothpick method, which I used previously indicated whether my cakes were done, but not if they were overdone. Subsequently, I would occasionally end up with dryer and more crumbly cake layers than desired. I topped my cake with a mound of dark chocolate curls. When you see the photo of the recipe at Fine Living you will notice that they used both dark chocolate and white chocolate. I went with what I had on hand for this recipe but the addition of the white chocolate and the contrast in the colors in their photo is beautiful.

Local ingredients in this cake: Hacienda San Jose Chocolate and Norte Cafe coffee. Both companies incorporate sustainability and environmental responsibility into their business missions.

The Whistler Irish Honey Whiskey

“The Whistler Irish Honey Whiskey was a natural collaboration between our family beekeepers and our love for Irish whiskey. We take some of the finest ex-bourbon matured Irish Whiskey and we infuse it with honey, harvested from our own family orchards.“

Interesting sustainability fact: Marie is the mother of the Cooney family and is also the head bee keeper for Boann Distillery. She has been rapidly growing the local bee population and this contributes to the beautiful flavor and the success of the Whistler Honey Whiskey.

The Whistler Honey Old Fashioned

Ingredients

• 2 ounces of The Whistler Beekeepers Select Irish Honey Whiskey
• 1 teaspoon simple syrup 
• ½ ounce Cointreau or Grand Marnier
• 2 dashes of Dashfire Old Fashioned Bitters (purchased at France 44 Wines and Spirits)
• Fresh honeycomb or Luxardo Maraschino Cherries for garnish

Instructions

Place The Whistler Irish Honey Whiskey in a glass along with the simple syrup, Cointreau and bitters.  Stir well and add ice cubes.  Garnish with the fresh honeycomb or cherries and enjoy!

If you have been following me for a while then you know that advocating for local and global sustainability is something I am passionate about. Bees are the world’s most important pollinators and the use of honey + Marie’s mission to grow the bee population were important factors in my decision to share the marvelous Whistler Whiskey products.

*I did receive the Whistler Whiskey products described in this article as a gift from a local distributor. As with everything I share, transparency and sustainability are the core of my mission and I will always give you my honest opinions regarding the products that I write about.

“Farm to Table…Ocean to Fork…and Grain to Glass.  We cast our votes in favor of the planet one bite, one sip at a time” ~ Lisa Patrin

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