Cocktail of the Week: The Misty Moors
Created by The Grand, York, this aromatic cocktail celebrates Yorkshire, with a local single malt whisky, bed of heathery herbs and delicate smoky finish…
Words: Jonathan Wells
A good cocktail must tell a great story. Brimming with spirit and overflowing with character, each ingredient should be singled out and stirred in for its own particular reason. It’s the key to creating something with great flavour — but also how you whip up an experience that will leave an indelible impression on you.
Thankfully, The Grand, York, in the historical city, is a hotel itself teeming with tales and stories from years past. Its current incarnation, as a luxury hotel, may have only thrown open its doors in 2010, but the incredible building was initially built in 1906 — intended to be a ‘Palace of Business’ — and served as the headquarters for The North Eastern Railway Company.
With guestrooms of varying sizes spanning the Edwardian and Roman wings, walking through The Grand is like taking a stroll back through time — from the building’s former vaults (which today house a celebrated spa), to The 1906 Bar, which harks back to the building’s beginnings, and offers a selection of Yorkshire’s finest ales.
This bar also shakes and serves up a great many wonderful cocktails. There’s the punchy ‘Barrel Aged Boulevardier’, the exotic ‘Eastern Delight’ and even a scotch-based ‘Old Fashioned’. But our favourite is ‘The Misty Moors’, the aromatic invention of The Grand’s food and beverage director, Seif Djouani, and a cocktail that tastily tells the story of Yorkshire’s bright and beautiful countryside.
“A great cocktail, in my opinion,” Djouani tells Gentleman’s Journal, “is one that provides an immersive, sensory experience; a perfect balance of flavours and a great, fun story behind it. ‘The Misty Moors’ takes inspiration from the North York Moors National Park. The thick mist and the fresh vegetation sent are reflected in the way the cocktail is prepared and presented.
“I use a fantastic Yorkshire-made single malt whisky,” he adds, referring to Filey Bay’s piquant Muscatel whisky, “delicately balanced with ginger spices and bitters, and served in a treasure chest on bed of herbs. The cocktail is smoked inside the chest and then presented to guests for a full Grand reveal”.
How to make The Grand’s ‘The Misty Moors’ cocktail
Ingredients:
- Filey Bay Muscatel Yorkshire Single Malt Whisky
- Ginger Liqueur
- Campari
- Peychaud Bitters
- Angostura Bitters
Method:
- Add cubed ice to a mixing glass
- Add the whisky, ginger, Campari and bitters
- Stir until chilled
- Strain into a rocks glass over a single ice cube
- Smoke in a treasure chest
Want more whisky? Here are the 12 steps you should follow for the ultimate whisky tasting…
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