Still Spirits Honey Bourbon essence, what it does

The problem with most honey spirits is that somebody has confused honey with sugar, and they're not the same thing at all. Honey has a floral, slightly waxy character that reads as warmth rather than sweetness, and when a flavouring gets it right you notice the bourbon first and the honey second. When it gets it wrong the whole glass tastes like a lolly and there's nowhere to go from there.

What this one does

Still Spirits Honey Bourbon sits on the restrained side. You get the oak and corn sweetness of a bourbon underneath and the honey sitting over it, softening the edges rather than burying them. That makes it a good deal more useful than a heavily sweetened one, because you can actually mix with it instead of only sipping it.

It's worth saying, because somebody always asks. Flavouring a bought neutral base isn't distilling and there's no ATO excise licence in it at all. If you're distilling the base yourself that's a federal manufacturer licence through the ATO, and it's a separate question to this one.

Making it

It goes into a clean neutral base at the ratio on the bottle, then sealed up and left for a day. Honey flavourings settle a bit as they sit, so what you taste in the first hour is usually sharper than what you end up with. If it comes out sweeter than you wanted, the fix is a small amount of oak rather than more base spirit, because oak brings the dryness back without watering down everything else at the same time.

How to drink it

• Neat, at room temperature. Cold flattens honey character, so this is one to leave out of the fridge.
• A hot toddy. Honey and lemon in a mug of hot water. It's the obvious use and it's the best one.
• With ginger beer. Honey and ginger are a very old pairing and they still work.
• In an old fashioned with the sugar left out. There's already enough in the bottle.

Shop related products

• Still Spirits Honey Bourbon. The essence this post is about.
• Still Spirits Bourbon Essence. Straight bourbon character if you would rather sweeten it yourself.
• Still Spirits Cherry Bourbon. The other flavoured bourbon on the shelf, and a fair comparison.
• Still Spirits Sweet Vanillin. For pushing the round, sweet side further without more honey.

Did you know we also keep the 1125ml spirit bottles and the Sam Willards oak soakers in the shop. They are not on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

More on this

• Kentucky bourbon essence, how to use it
• 3 ways to age and flavour whisky at home
• How to flavour a spirit at home with essences

Not sure which one suits what you actually drink? Brewhilder will narrow it down, or have a look through the homebrew collection.

I put honey in things that don't need honey, which my family points out at regular intervals.

Candeece

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