Savile Row’s Orchard Cut is a love letter to the whisky apple

This one is a love letter to the whisky apple.

“The Whisky Apple is iconic for a reason. For many, it’s their first introduction to whisky; familiar, approachable and instantly recognisable,” says the drink’s creator, Leah Dunnigan, of Savile Row. “Orchard Cut was created to take that first step and turn it into something worth coming back to.”

“The intention was to create an elevated Whisky Apple, an ode to the drink that became a staple in whisky bars across the country: a drink that welcomes the whisky novice without compromising the whisky drinker.”

“Apple is explored in all its forms. Pomme verte brings crisp, fresh green apple; Calvados apple crème brings richness and ripe fruit; and burnt custard syrup pushes the fruit into something indulgent and dessert-like.”

“The result is deliberately familiar, but with more depth, texture and complexity. The whisky apple, reinvented.”

Orchard Cut

Ingredients:

• 30ml Michter’s Straight Rye
• 10ml Licor 43
• 10ml Massenez Pomme Verte
• 10ml burnt custard syrup
• 30ml Calvados apple crème
• 2 dash saline
• 5ml fresh lemon juice

For the burnt custard syrup:

• 250g full cream milk powder
• 2 vanilla beans
• 700ml sugar syrup

For the apple reduction:

• 2kg Granny Smith apples, juiced
• 600g Pink Lady apples, juiced

For the Calvados apple crème:

• 1kg apple reduction
• 250ml Calvados
• 120g caster sugar
• 480g egg yolks
• 4 whole eggs
• 8g fine salt
• 8g malic acid
• 4g citric acid
• 480g cold unsalted butter, diced

Method:

1. For the burnt custard syrup, gently toast the milk powder in a pan over low heat until fragrant and golden — it burns very quickly.
2. Add the sugar syrup and vanilla beans and simmer for 10 minutes, then strain, cool, bottle and strain again (yields about 850ml).
3. For the apple reduction, cold-press the apples, skim off any froth and reduce the juice by half over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
4. Cool the reduction completely before using it in the crème.
5. For the Calvados apple crème, whisk together the egg yolks, whole eggs, sugar, malic acid, citric acid and salt, then whisk in the apple reduction.
6. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, and add the butter once it starts bubbling, mixing thoroughly.
7. Add the Calvados, let cool, then blend in batches.
8. Add all the cocktail ingredients to a shaker and shake hard with ice.
9. Double strain into a rocks glass over a hand-cut ice block.
10. Garnish with an apple glacé slice.

Recipe by Leah Dunnigan at Savile Row, Brisbane.