Get ready to upgrade your bar cart game this fall. Dewar’s Blended Scotch Whisky has released its new Caribbean Smooth, an affordable rum-finished whisky designed for some creative cocktail options. The Caribbean Smooth is an 8-year-old bottle of blended Scotch finished for six months in Caribbean rum casks.
“We’ve blended up to 40 single malts and grain whiskies that have laid in casks for at least 8 years, double aged the blend to ensure our distinctive extra smooth Dewar’s profile, and then finished in ex-Caribbean Rum casks for a period of around 6 months,” said North American Dewar Vice President Brian Cox in a press release. “The rum casks were sourced straight from the Caribbean and brought to our ageing warehouses in Glasgow to be filled with our flavorful 8-year-old blend.”
Dewar’s hinted in its press materials that the rum cask exploration grew out of recently updated rules for Scotch that allow a more diverse range of casks to be employed in the “finishing” of whisky. Rum was allowed before these rules were updated over the summer—Balvenie, among others, has produced rum-finished whiskies for years. This is, however, a totally new direction for a long-strict blended whisky brand, and a welcome one—this whisky adds layers of brown sugar and candied fruits over the signature bright and slightly smokey Dewar’s profile.
And perhaps best of all, there’s more innovation on the way. Cox called Caribbean Smooth the “first in a series of double-aged cask finishes.” He went on to explain that Dewar’s will “continue to bring these new and exciting flavor profiles to a broader market in order to drive renewed interest in our brand, and thereby the whisky category.”
Caribbean Smooth is definitely a great option for a mixing whisky; it’s been making the rounds specifically as a highball option called the Coconut Highball, which is a light, refreshing alternative to the traditional whiskey highball. For $22, it’s an easy way to keep a unique and simple cocktail option on your home bar—because not everyone wants to unwind by following a 17-step recipe for an after-work drink.
Check out the highball recipe below, courtesy of Dewar’s:
Caribbean Highball
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- 1 ½ parts Dewar’s Caribbean Smooth
- ½ part Lemon Juice
- ½ part Coconut Syrup
- 3 parts Soda Water
Garnish: Lime wheel and mint sprig
Method: Add whisky, lemon juice, and syrup to chilled highball glass, filled with cubed ice, add soda, stir ingredients from the bottom upwards to mix thoroughly, and garnish with slapped mint sprig and lime wheel.
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