Spiced Honey Bourbon

This is probably my favorite fall drink I've concocted. I've been making this for several years now, and have had many requests for the recipe.

Start off with some apple or white grape juice in a small sauce pan. This is just to give the mulling spices something thin to simmer in.

Add mulling spices, simmer and stir for a while. I've bought mulling-spice mixes from the spice house, containing a mixture of cloves, orange peel, cinnamon and a few others. Typically I double or triple the amount it calls for - usually ending up with about 4 mounded tablespoons worth. Not going for subtlety here.

After simmering for a half hour or so, turn off the heat before stirring in the honey - you don't want it to caramelize on the the hot bottom of the pan. Slowly stir in about a pound of honey - again, no so much with the subtlety. Heat it back up until it stirs smoothly. If its fresh honey, you'll need to get it hot enough to sanitize it, and a good breakdown is here. I tend to just boil it for a while, it kills everything off, reduces haze, and I don't have to be as careful with a thermometer. Don't let it boil over though, as it makes a serious mess.

I put a bit of Jim Beam into 2 empty 750ml bottles, so the hot honey mixture won't crack the glass when I pour it in. These bottles are from Knob Creek - the squared-off ones fit nicely in the fridge, but any others will do. You can also add some of the whiskey to the mix in the pan as its cooling - you don't want to boil off the alcohol, but the thinner mixture is much easier to pour.


Split the cooled-off mixture evenly between the two bottles. This funnel has a strainer at the bottom, but in previous batches I've poured in the mulling spices using a spouted measuring cup - you'll just have sediment at the bottom.


The two darker finished bottles, from a full 1.75L. The remainder in the large bottle is the volume of honey and juice added to the other two, weakening the bourbon somewhat.


Add a few ounces to fresh apple cider and heat it. I happened to have some whipped cream around, which was nice but unnecessary. Its really good, these can disappear quite quickly.