“It’s difficult putting smokiness in cocktails, especially if you’re trying to make a refreshing one,” explains Kai Parrott-Wolfe of Brooklyn’s OTB and Post Office Bar. “The flavor is so big [that] it generally doesn’t play that well with others.”
One strategy is to use a light hand, as Parrott-Wolfe does in The Meadowlark, shaking just a half ounce of heavily peated McCarthy’s Single Malt Whiskey from Oregon with an ounce and a half of gin, plus equal parts lime juice and simple syrup. The result: a subtle, refreshing response to the “something smoky” request.