WARD EIGHT SPINOFF

I made Dale Degroff’s variation of the Ward Eight and loved the rye whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup, and grenadine combination. Naturally, I wanted to make a cocktail thats a spinoff from the Ward Eight. Initially, the cocktail I came up with was rye whiskey, Grand Marnier, simple syrup, and grenadine. A lot of my friends loved this combination. But in my opinion, the simple syrup and Grand Marnier duo was to sweet despite the fact that the citrus notes from the lemon was still noticeable. I then started to think about cocktails like the White Lady, Sidecar, and Margarita. All of these strong cocktails followed a similar pattern and contained a spirit, a liqueur as a sweetener (in this case, orange curacao), and citrus juice (lemon or lime). I followed the same pattern when I created the next iteration of the Ward Eight. I got rid of the simple syrup and only used Rye Whiskey (1 oz), Grand Marnier (1 oz), Lemon Juice (3/4 oz), and Home made Grenadine (1/4 oz). At first, the cocktail smells strong. But one sip will tell you otherwise. Don’t be fooled with the ethereal orange and citrus aromatics. This cocktail still packs a bite with an ABV of 22%. This is my personal favorite version. Of course, the measurements can be changed to fit one’s preference. You can add more lemon if you want it more sour, add less Grand Marnier, or do both. You can also add more rye whiskey and add less Grand Marnier to make it less sweet. Just be aware that adding more rye whiskey will give you more rye notes and less orange flavored cognac aromatics. In the end, you should make it the way you like it since you’ll be the one drinking the cocktail.

Why did I use Grand Marnier? Good question. First off, rye whiskey marries well with cognac. I first tried cognac instead of Grand Marnier. It was good but I felt like the cocktail was still missing something. I next tried Grand Marnier. Grand Marnier is cognac based with notes of orange. The orange aromatics plays well with the lemon’s citrus juice. In fact, some Ward Eight variations use rye whiskey, orange juice, lemon juice, and grenadine while omitting the simple syrup. Secondly, my home made grenadine was made with cognac. So it makes sense to use an orange flavored cognac along with grenadine made with cognac.