Chimney Smoke Cocktail

Let’s Get Blitzen: Cocktail Advent Calendar – Day 9 – Chimney Smoke Cocktail.

This one is for the people who put a “crackling fireplace” video on their TV and immediately feel morally superior about it. You know who you are. (I am you.)

Chimney Smoke Cocktail is Old Fashioned-adjacent but holiday-maximalist: gingerbread gin, vanilla pear syrup, orange bitters, and a little smoke moment because December deserves drama.

Tasting notes

Willibald Gingerbread Gin tastes like Christmas in a bottle: baking spice, warm botanicals, subtle sweetness. Vanilla pear syrup makes it silky and round, orange bitters add snap, and the smoke cap gives that deep hearth aroma before you even sip. It’s boozy, grown-up, and slightly theatrical — just how I like my December evenings.

Smoke isn’t just garnish-theatre. A quick oak-chip burn perfumes the drink so your nose gets “holiday hearth” before your tongue even clocks the gin. Aroma is flavour’s opening act.

Before you ask, I’m using the Smoking Saucer from Spirits with Smoke. I’ve partnered with them before on this Date Square Old Fashioned. This post is not sponsored but they do make a great product that helps make smoking cocktails accessible for home bartenders. Made from sustainably sourced lumber and fitted with a brass mesh screen, this saucer has been tested for smoking up to 300 cocktails before it needs replacement.

As you can see, mine has a bit of char on the wood saucer but that has no bearing on the functionality of the tool. The kit they gave me comes with three different wood chip flavours, Bourbon Barrel, Cabernet Sauvignon Barrel, and Spicy Hickory. For this Chimney Smoke Cocktail, I used the bourbon barrel wood chips to emulate the nose flavour of a classic bourbon old fashioned.

If this Chimney Smoke Cocktail has got you fired up, you might like my other Old Fashioned variations:

• High Tea Gin Old Fashioned
• Pomegranate Vodka Old Fashioned
• French Old Fashioned

We had a lot of fun shooting this bingo-themed video. My vision for this was that I was daubing away in a smoke-shrouded bingo hall – hence the need for a smoked cocktail. Michael is the bingo caller and I’m the professional gambler running 12 bingo cards at a time. If you haven’t seen it, head over to Instagram to see the reel!

Tutorial at 5 p.m. Eastern on Stories — I’ll show you a simple, safe smoke trick that doesn’t require turning your kitchen into a campfire.

Chimney Smoke Cocktail

Print

Chimney Smoke Cocktail

Prep Time

5 mins

Total Time

5 mins

 

This cocktail really says, “Come on [Santa] baby, light my fire.” This gin old fashioned carries the spirit of Christmas by using a gingerbread gin base, vanilla pear syrup, and a smoked finish.

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Canadian

Keyword: Gin, Old Fashioned, Smoked Cocktail

Servings: 1

Author: Yvonne Langen

Ingredients

• 2 oz Willibald Gingerbread Gin
• ¼ oz vanilla pear syrup
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• Garnish: smoke
• Garnish: orange twist

Vanilla Pear Syrup

• 2 cups ripe pears roughly chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a mixing glass and stir over ice until well-chilled.
2. Strain into a rocks glass over a king cube.
3. Pack a smoking saucer with bourbon & oak wood chips and place on top of the glass. Set it ablaze until you achieve a lake effect of smoke on top of the drink. Remove saucer.
4. Express citrus oils from orange peel onto the surface of the drink. Fashion into a twist and drop into the glass.

Vanilla Pear Syrup

1. Combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to medium low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
2. Fine-strain into an airtight container.