So, after lurking on these forums for a little while learning how to smoke, I finally decided to join.
Anyway, here's the way I made bacon-infused bourbon.
Here is where it all went down...
Choices, choices...
I went with the remainders of my Bulleit bourbon, as it really only had a few drinks left in it, plus it is a fairly smooth but sweet bourbon without a ton of distracting inherent flavors... and it's cheap in case I were to totally ruin it. The bacon I used was Farmland's double hickory smoked bacon.
I only pan-fried up two slices of bacon as there was not much bourbon left, like I said, only a few drinks. Just trying to render the smoky bacon fat out.
Here's the bacon fat cooling a little before I add it to the whiskey, plus a little snack while I was waiting.
I then put the bourbon/bacon fat mixture back into the liquor cabinet to rest for 8 hours, swirling the bottle around a couple times every hour or so. Then I put the whiskey into the freezer to help the bacon fat separate from the alcohol, so I wouldn't have oily whiskey to drink.
I then strained the nearly-frozen bacon fat out using a funnel and some layered paper towels.
Bacon-infused bourbon on the rocks. It was surprisingly better than I was expecting. It actually tasted much like my 18 year-old Elijah Craig bourbon, which is one of the smokier bourbons you can buy. It did have a different taste to it, not quite porky, but you probably couldn't guess what it was without knowing. The smokiness was definitely there, without the "burnt" taste that may have accompanied it had I put the bacon itself in there. It still had nowhere near the smokiness of scotches like Laphroiag or Ardbeg, but for a cheap bourbon that I infused myself, it was decent. The sweetness of the Bulleit bourbon actually made the whole drink almost taste like a smoky maple bourbon.
Anyway, here's the way I made bacon-infused bourbon.
Here is where it all went down...
Choices, choices...
I went with the remainders of my Bulleit bourbon, as it really only had a few drinks left in it, plus it is a fairly smooth but sweet bourbon without a ton of distracting inherent flavors... and it's cheap in case I were to totally ruin it. The bacon I used was Farmland's double hickory smoked bacon.
I only pan-fried up two slices of bacon as there was not much bourbon left, like I said, only a few drinks. Just trying to render the smoky bacon fat out.
Here's the bacon fat cooling a little before I add it to the whiskey, plus a little snack while I was waiting.
I then put the bourbon/bacon fat mixture back into the liquor cabinet to rest for 8 hours, swirling the bottle around a couple times every hour or so. Then I put the whiskey into the freezer to help the bacon fat separate from the alcohol, so I wouldn't have oily whiskey to drink.
I then strained the nearly-frozen bacon fat out using a funnel and some layered paper towels.
Bacon-infused bourbon on the rocks. It was surprisingly better than I was expecting. It actually tasted much like my 18 year-old Elijah Craig bourbon, which is one of the smokier bourbons you can buy. It did have a different taste to it, not quite porky, but you probably couldn't guess what it was without knowing. The smokiness was definitely there, without the "burnt" taste that may have accompanied it had I put the bacon itself in there. It still had nowhere near the smokiness of scotches like Laphroiag or Ardbeg, but for a cheap bourbon that I infused myself, it was decent. The sweetness of the Bulleit bourbon actually made the whole drink almost taste like a smoky maple bourbon.
