Here at The Culinary Food Group are seeing a rise in alcohol infused and flavoured sauces recently. Along with other popular alcoholic drinks and cocktails, whiskey ventures into the kitchen, out of the drinks cupboard! But, what’s the difference between Irish Whiskey, Scotch (Whisky) and Bourbon? And, how do we incorporate it into our sauce recipes?

• Irish Whiskey is sweet, smooth and unsmoked from its triple distillation.
• Scotch is Whisky produced in Scotland from malted barley and is distinguished by its smoky character.
• Bourbon has to be a minimum of 51% corn mash and is therefore quite sweet.

But what about sauces?….

Bourbon

Bourbon is appropriate for sweeter sauces, such as BBQ, as a counterpoint to grilled meats. This is particularly prevalent in Memphis Style BBQ Sauces.

Scotch

With Scotch’s smoky characteristics it lends itself well to classics such as Whiskey Cream Sauce or a Whisky Mushroom Sauce and the often miscredited Gaelic Sauce which is more commonly used with Irish Whiskey.

Irish Whiskey

Irish Whiskey has distinct smoothness which can carry into a multitude of uses, notably in dessert sauces like custard, or sticky glazes for meat like a Hot Toddy Glaze

Sauce Innovation

Recently there has been an uptake in turning classic cocktails into sauces, like the Old Fashioned which works very well with beef, or the Whiskey Sour which can stand up to more robust seafood.

Get in touch if you would like the Culinary Food Group to assist in your sauce innovation plans or manufacturing. We would love to hear from you!