Maple Bacon Bourbon Pecan Pie

Our grandmother used to make the best pies. Of course, everyone’s grandmother made the best pies, but believe us when we say our grandmother made the world’s best pies. She made a killer sour cream apple, a delightfully complex peach rhubarb, and a lemon meringue that would knock your socks off – literally, we would eat it in our bare feet just to avoid the hassle of having our socks fly off.

Out of our grandmother’s vast pie-making repertoire, there’s one pie though that stands out – her pecan pie. Always served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it’s one of the cornerstone memories we have of her. She was a pragmatic person, and as she grew older, she always asked what we wanted willed to us. The one thing we all desired was her rolling pin. Ancient, deeply-worn, with a rich patina, it was a magical tool that had rolled out countless delicious crusts. We’re not sure who inherited that wonderful artifact, all we know is that it wasn’t us. Needless to say, we have never quite mastered crust-making she way she had. Maybe if we had ended up with that rolling pin things would have been different.

So when we put a few twists to Grandmother’s pecan pie recipe, we opted for a pre-made crust. We know, she’s probably rolling over in her grave, but she was a loving and forgiving woman. We hope she understands. We have come up with a quick and easy pecan pie recipe that includes some of our favorite things: maple syrup, bacon, and bourbon. We think she would be proud. Proud enough to overlook a pre-made crust? Well, we may never know. But here’s to an easy, savory, and slightly boozy dessert. And here’s to you Grandmother, we know if you were here you’d be tipping them back with our handcrafted whiskey stones. Cheers!

Maple Bacon Bourbon Pecan Pie

Ingredients

• 6 slices bacon
• 1½ cups pecans
• 2 shots bourbon
• ½ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup corn syrup
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 pie crust

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fry the bacon, then chop into small pieces and set aside. Cook the pecans and maple syrup in remaining bacon grease for about three minutes, stirring constantly. Remove pan from heat.

In a bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, corn syrup and bourbon. Stir in the pecan-maple syrup mix and bacon pieces. Pour this mixture into a pie crust. Bake until the crust is golden, about one hour.

Highland Park 50 Years Old

Edrington Group

The Highland Park 50 Year Old, designed by Scottish born, multi award winning jewellery designer Maeve Gillies was chosen by the team of judges as the standout overall winner of Best Design from the products entered into this year’s awards.

Inspired by Orkney, the concept around the design was a nautical/marine theme that looked like something washed up on a beach after 50 years. The whisky is like a jewel with the bottle seemingly growing around the whisky.

The outer casing, designed to resemble a net, is hand crafted from solid sterling silver with an amulet at the heart of the bottle made from Orcadian sandstone and containing the Highland Park logo. This bottle absolutely blew the judges away. It blew us away too. Oh, how we’d like to get our greedy little hands on a bottle, and pour a tipple over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones.

ABV: 44.8%
Bottle size: 700ml
Origin: Scotland

A short drinking story.

Several years ago I had a night where I had a few too many drinks. I woke up the next morning and I wasn’t alone. No, I didn’t meet a girl, but there was this really sweet dog asleep on the foot of my bed. I had no idea where he came from. I petitioned everyone I was with the night before and no one remembered seeing me with a dog. This happened right in the middle of the Olympic Games, so I just went with it. I named him Norman and took him out with me to the bars to watch the rest of the games. Sadly, a couple weeks later I found out he belonged to a neighbor down the street. I returned him, but still went back every so often to take him out with me. After a few months his real owner got a job that required moving over seas, so now Norman lives with me and he can’t wait until the next Olympics.

The Glenrothes 1995

Like many whisky distilleries in Scotland, The Glenrothes was founded in the late nineteenth century, 1879 to be exact, and has changed hands a number of times since. It started out under the same leadership as The Macallan, but is now part of the Berry Bros. & Rudd portfolio.

Whiskies from The Glenrothes distillery are not released in age-stated batches, but instead by vintage. 1998 was the first vintage to be released that had been designed this way, and the new 1995 was the first distilled to be released as a vintage. It just took a little longer to get there – what we’ve got here is a seventeen year old whisky that was aged in 30% sherry-treated casks and 70% refill casks. They’ve bottled it at 43% and the color is all natural, though it is chill-filtered.

Now for the best part. On the nose the Glenrothes 1995 is exceptional with a floral-honey and fruit structure, but if you let it sit in the glass for 10-15 minutes the fruit really explodes and the floral-honey begins playing the supporting role. Partly due to being 43% it’s a little peppery on the tongue, but it’s rich and mouth-coating. The mid-palate is fruit-dominated and on the sweet side, but you get a great caramel note at the end that dries everything out.

Overall, we wholeheartedly recommend this stuff. It goes for $82. Expensive, but definitely a good value in this price range. Really soft and rich in the mouth, good clean fruit flavors, and a honey note that avoids being too sweet. Exactly what good Speyside whisky should be. And we believe a good Speyside should be slightly chilled, not diluted. Our unique handcrafted whiskey stones are just the thing to get the job done.

Irish Car Bomb Jello Shots

If you’re like us, you’re into do-it-yourself science projects, especially the ones which allow you to take your favorite liquors and turn them into one awesome semi-solid cocktail. This recipe combines Guinness, Jameson and Bailey’s with a little gelatin. The result? The best jello shot you’ll ever have. These beautifully nebulous babies have Guinness-Jello bottoms with Jameson-Bailey’s-Jello foamy heads, and they taste absolutely amazing.

For those who don’t know, the traditional Irish Car Bomb combines a pint glass of Guinness and a shot glass half-full of Jameson and half-full of Bailey’s. You drop the shot glass into the pint glass and then chug the whole thing before it foams over. It’s sweet and chocolatey and it will mess you up something proper. But there’s another reason it could mess you up: it may get you punched in the face. Calling this drink an “Irish Car Bomb” offends a lot of people. Asking for it at certain bars in the United Kingdom can get you in a wee bit of trouble. Word to the wise.

We highly suggest sipping on some of the Jameson while preparing these treats. And, might we also suggest, using one of our unique whiskey stones to chill that fine Irish whiskey without diluting it. Now, let’s make these delicious amorphous drinks.

Ingredients

Preparation

John Jameson’s Irish Whiskey

On a Tuesday morning on October 5th 1740, John Jameson was born and the first chapter in a whiskey legend began. Now, it’s a fact that most people believe John Jameson was an Irishman, through and through. Wrong. He was born in Scotland. Ah, but it’s an easy mistake to make and the Irish were quick to adopt him as one of their own. As the saying goes, he eventually became more Irish than the Irish themselves.

‘Sine Metu’ meaning ‘Without Fear’ is the Jameson family motto, awarded for their bravery in battling pirates back in the 1500s. This motto was the inspiration for John’s move to Dublin to make his mark (and his whiskey). Going to 1770’s Dublin to start a whiskey distillery was actually a bit like going to 1940’s LA to start a film studio. Ireland is reputed to be where whiskey was invented and whiskey from Dublin was regarded as the finest in the world. Then along came John Jameson, a complete outsider, who took the great Irish tradition and really put his own stamp on it. All this he did, Sine Metu.

In the late 18th century, most whiskeys were distilled twice, like it is in Scotland. No harm in that, if you’re happy with a double distilled whiskey. John Jameson wasn’t. He went that extra step and insisted on triple distillation, as he found that it made his whiskey twice as smooth. So why not four times or even five? Wouldn’t the whiskey get smoother still? Don’t think John didn’t try it. He’d try anything in the quest for perfection. But it turned out triple distillation couldn’t be improved on.

Today with annual sales of over 31 million bottles, Jameson is by far the best selling Irish whiskey in the world. We love to drink it. And the way we drink it, is to pour it over one of our handcrafted whiskey stones. We’d like to think if John Jameson were alive today, he’d approve of our endeavors. So here’s a glass raised to you Mr. Jameson. (clink) ‘Sine Metu’.

Our whiskey stones chill without diluting.

How do you chill your fine spirits without diluting all those wonderfully complex flavors? Of course ice promises great things, but it always ends up letting you down with a watery mess. Until now, those of us looking for a cool tipple have had to settle for an experience that starts well, but ends in disappointment. Sure, you could forego the ice and take it neat; but you’re robbed of the thrill that subtly-chilled liquor can bring when it warms on the palate. Either way, it’s a frustrating concession. It’s a compromise of the worst sort.

They say the devil is compromise. The boys at Hammerstone say, to hell with the devil and his annoying little sidekick – compromise. With our handcrafted whiskey stones you can finally have your proverbial cake and drink it too. Simply freeze one of our soapstone disks, and then add it to your next drink. You’ll enjoy a slight chill with no watered-down taste; perfection in a glass. It’s a simple, beautiful solution to a downright pesky problem. Leave it to a couple of rough-cut stonemasons from New England to give the devil his due.