Erwan Heusaff and Bartender of the Year Claude Delima Do Quick and Easy Whisky Cocktails

Whisky is the great social leveler. We guess this is what The Singleton Social is trying to get at. Whisky dinners are a thing a beauty when they're done right, after all. Diageo, for what it's worth, is trying to give us something new with The Singleton Social. It recently announced new partnerships with ten participating restaurants in Metro Manilla to bring us whisky pairing dinners of epic proportions. Epic is a nice word.

It's an exquisite dinner experience, they call it. They're probably right. One great thing about The Singleton is that it's a whisky for all kinds of people, whether it be the novice or the connoisseur. With The Singleton Social, guests will see the various ways we can toy around with the single malt whisky. They're on the drinks menu of restaurants like Salt and Ice Bar, Sunae, Pardon My French, Mijo Comfort Food, Nikeei, and Ikomai Tochi, among others. Here, we get to sample all the ways bartenders toy around with The Singleton of Dufftown 12 Years Old; we can take it neat, on the rocks, or however the hell we want, really.

h

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by DiscoverMNL™ ????????? (@discovermnl)>p

>p>p>p>p

Erwan Heusaff and Philippine Bartender of the Year Claude Delima has a few ideas. Maybe we should listen.

ALSO READ:

Whisky Spotlight: The Dalmore 12 Year Old Sherry Cask Select Is a Subtle Update to an Old Favorite

Where to Drink 100 Years' Worth of The Dalmore's Finest Vintages in the Philippines

Easy Whisky Cocktails, According to Heusaff and Delima

The Singleton is smoother and sweeter than your average whisky. We can get maybe hints of honey, apple, or fresh fruit in general. It's one of the most versatile ones out there, too, because of these. Delima himself explains that the single malt whisky had been a favorite of his when he was competing in Sydney for the Diageo World-Class Bartender Championship.

"We can be as flexible as we want with this particular drink," he stresses. "They (Singleton) break the rules. I remember, the challenge was to create a 'new classic.' I wanted to create a cocktail out of the norms of bartending."

The 12 YO.

Photo by SINGLETON SOCIAL.

During the finals in the Philippines, where he had been named Bartender of the Year, Delima created an Aperitif and Digestif with Johnnie Walker Black Label and The Singleton of Dufftown. He ended up giving us "Pagsindak," a citrusy ole Johnnie Walker aperitif with homemade soda and some pomelo tepache cordial, and “Takipsilim,” a Singleton-based fat-washed cocktail mixed with syrup, lemon, and green chartreuse cozzarella. For the latter, he threw in 30ml of PX sherry reduction sauce and 45m of Aquafaba.

But we aren't all world-class bartenders like him. We don't all have these thingamajigs at home, do we? He instead offers us a whisky cocktail that's free and easy. Delima, who works as a bartender for The Spirits Library in Poblacion, calls it "The Singleton Orchard." It's something light, easy, and fruity. No need to get into whisky gatekeeping here. Anybody can enjoy this thing.

What We Need for Delima's The Singleton Orchard:

• One Part The Singleton of Dufftown 12 YO
• One Part Apple Juice
• One Part Soda Water
• Mint or Apple Slices

"Claude and I met before. The first time we got out of the pandemic, he made a special world-class cocktail. And I drank eight of it that night. We did not drink responsibly."

Photo by SINGLETON SOCIAL.

Heusaff, on the other hand, has a few of his own tricks to this whisky cocktail thing, too. As it turns out, him and Delima had known each other for a while now. And suffice to say, he's familiar with Delima's work.

The chef's Plus Two cocktail recipe is apparently called the "Single Penny Lane." We can call it a whisky sour, but Single Penny Lane sounds way cooler. It's summery, tangy, and a little smokey.

What We Need for the Single Penny Lane:

• One part The Singleton of Dufftown 12 YO
• One Part Pineapple Juice
• One Part Ginger Ale

For more information on The Singleton and where to buy them, click here.