This Salted Honey Old Fashioned Is the Cocktail Recipe You Didn’t Know You Needed

Highland Park Salted Honey Old Fashioned

Ingredients

2 ounces Highland Park 12 Year Old

1 barspoon honey syrup (honey thinned with water, equal parts honey to water)

2 drops Angostura bitters

Pinch smoked sea salt

Orange twist, for garnish

Instructions

Combine Highland Park 12 Year Old Whisky with a large ice cube in a glass. Add a teaspoon of honey syrup, a couple drops of bitters, and a pinch of smoked sea salt. Stir to combine. Garnish with an orange peel, dropping into the drink after running along the rim of the glass.

Pairing Suggestion

There’s no better match for the Salted Honey Old Fashioned than a cold North Atlantic oyster. The brininess is a reminder of the sea, yet the oyster is sweet at its center. A drop of mignonette made with Highland Park 12 Year Old gives an Orcadian twist to this timeless preparation.

If you’re familiar with Highland Park Scotch, you likely can tell a bit about the bottle’s terroir from one sip. First is a distinguishable aromatic peat smoke that can only come from burning the woodless, heathery peat found exclusively on the Orkney Islands — Scotland’s northernmost islands, home to the world’s northernmost whisky distillery. Then there’s a distinctive richness, the result of lengthy maturation in sherry seasoned oak casks. And finally a whiff of saltiness, courtesy of the islands’ remote location flung far out in the ocean where the Atlantic meets the North Sea. Highland Park 12 Year Old is a history lesson in a pour, drawing flavor from the treeless landscape abundant in heather, 12 years in sherry oak casks, and the salty sea.

This Old Fashioned recipe pays tribute to Highland Park’s terroir, with a salty and sweet take that accentuates the flavors found in the whisky. Watch the video to see how this Old Fashioned recipe is made.

Oysters on the Half Shell With Highland Park Mignonette

Serves 6 as an appetizer
Active time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1 dozen Atlantic oysters, preferably from cold northern waters (such as Beausoleil)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Highland Park 12 Year Old
1 tablespoon finely minced shallot
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
Crushed ice

Instructions

1. Open the oysters by jimmying an oyster knife into the hinge of the shell (the pointier end) and sliding it all the way forward to release the oyster. Lay the oysters on a bed of crushed ice.
2. Make the mignonette by mixing together the red wine vinegar, Highland Park 12 Year Old, shallot and black pepper. Spoon over oysters to serve.