Whiskey Smash

The Whiskey Smash is a bourbon refresher built on the 19th-century smash form — spirit, sugar, and herb pounded together over ice — that Jerry Thomas codified in his 1862 bar guide. The modern version, popularized by Dale DeGroff at New York's Rainbow Room, brightens the old julep-style template with muddled fresh lemon, so it lands somewhere between a mint julep and a whiskey sour: oaky and caramel-sweet underneath, with mint perfume and citrus snap on top. Shaken hard and strained over crushed ice, it drinks like summer in a rocks glass.

RefreshingClassic

Ingredients

  • 2 ozBourbon
  • 0.75 ozLemon Juice(from muddled fresh lemon)
  • 1 ozSimple Syrup
  • 5 pieceFresh Mint(muddled)

Garnish: Mint Sprig

Preparation

Shaken · Rocks · Crushed

  1. 1.

    muddle

    Muddle the fresh lemon and mint leaves with the simple syrup in a shaker to express the lemon juice and mint oils.

  2. 2.

    add

    Add the bourbon and fill the shaker with ice.

  3. 3.

    shake

    Shake vigorously until well chilled.

  4. 4.

    strain

    Strain into a rocks glass packed with crushed ice.

  5. 5.

    garnish

    Garnish with a fresh mint sprig (and a lemon wedge or wheel).

Flavor Profile

dilution
45%
sweet
33%
spiced
19%
citrus
18%
sour
16%
body
15%
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