Irish Maid
- 2 slice Fresh Cucumber
- 2 oz Irish whiskey
- 1⁄2 oz Elderflower liqueur
- 2⁄3 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 1⁄3 oz ‘Rich’ Sugar syrup (2:1)
- Add cucumber to shaker and muddle
- Shake over ice for 20-30 seconds
- Strain over a rock of ice into a chilled old fashioned glass
- Garnish with sliced cucumber
Happy Friday, friends!
This week was a good one.
It brought another installment of our Kelowna Newcomers Club Cocktails & Spirits Tasting series, and with it an opportunity to reminisce about our last big family vacation before the move to British Columbia: two wonderful weeks among the lush, green, rolling hills of Ireland.
We did not just taste whiskey this week. We tasted our way back into memory.
So, given that backdrop, may I present the Irish Maid.
The Irish Maid is a great cocktail for letting Irish whiskey take centre stage while surrounding it with ingredients that feel like a sunny day in Ireland: the soft character of pot still whiskey, the meadow-like sweetness of elderflower, bright lemonade-like citrus, and the cool, wet snap of cucumber.
It is green without being green. It is floral without becoming perfumed. It is refreshing without forgetting that whiskey is still in charge.
But I am getting ahead of myself.
Our host at the Irish whiskey tasting recommended Powers Three Swallow Release, a bottle from Midleton Distillery just outside Cork. Powers itself is a familiar name in Irish whiskey, but Three Swallow was new to me. It is designed as a modern expression of the historic Powers house style: a mash of malted and unmalted barley, triple-distilled in copper pot stills, matured in second- and third-fill American bourbon barrels, and rounded out with a sherry-aged component.
Sign me up.
On the nose, Three Swallow gives classic pot still spice, crisp barley, delicate herbs, green banana, grapefruit, and a lightly nutty note of marzipan. On the palate, it brings mouth-coating barley, then green apple and citrus, followed by herbs, spice, and cedar wood. The finish moves from spicy sweetness into cereal, toasted oak, and a small echo of sherry.
It is a bright, expressive whiskey with enough personality to stay present in a cocktail without shouting over every other ingredient.
For anyone newer to Irish whiskey, it is worth setting the table.
Irish whiskey must be produced and matured in Ireland for at least three years in wooden casks, but within that protected category lives a surprising range of styles.
Single malt Irish whiskey is made entirely from malted barley and distilled at one distillery. It is often clean, fruit-forward, and driven by malt, orchard fruit, vanilla, and oak.
Single grain Irish whiskey is also made at one distillery, but it uses a mash that combines malted barley with other unmalted cereals. It is often lighter in texture and commonly becomes an important part of blends.
Then there is single pot still Irish whiskey, the style that most feels uniquely Irish. It must be distilled at one distillery in traditional pot stills from a mash containing at least 30% malted barley and at least 30% unmalted barley. Up to 5% of other unmalted cereals–such as oats, wheat, or rye–may be included.
Historically, Irish distillers used unmalted barley in part because British tax policy made malted barley more expensive. The resulting style became more than a workaround; it became a signature. Pot still whiskey often carries an oily texture, a cereal-rich body, and a distinctive spice that can read as peppery, earthy, or almost creamy.
That makes it an ideal cocktail whiskey.
The Irish Maid also relies on St-Germain, affectionately known by bartenders as “ketchup” because it somehow makes almost everything taste better.
St-Germain is a French elderflower liqueur made from fresh elderflowers and bottled at 20% ABV. Its profile is floral and lightly syrupy but has enough acidity to stay bright: honeysuckle, pear, white peach, citrus, and a faint tropical edge. It feels like a liqueur designed specifically for daylight.
The cucumber brings the final bit of refreshment. It gives the whiskey, elderflower, lemon, and sugar a cooling, faintly vegetal edge–the sensation of wet grass, garden shade, and something crisp pulled from the fridge after a hot afternoon.
Sweetened lemon greets the front of the palate, followed by elderflower and the floral, fruity character of the pot still whiskey. As the drink moves across the tongue, cucumber sits quietly in the background, contributing a faint briny freshness without trying to become the main event. Then, on the finish, the Powers’ pot-still spice reappears: cereal, wood, pepper, and citrus all returning just long enough to remind you that this remains a whiskey cocktail.
Between the whiskey, elderflower, lemon, and cucumber, the Irish Maid captures something about dew-dappled emerald hills in a way few cocktails do.
It is a lovely drink for revisiting a good trip.
At the end of our KNC Irish whiskey event, I found myself back in the present: six empty Glencairns in front of me, each holding only the faintest amber remainder of the night’s tasting.
This month’s Cocktails & Spirits Tasting was hosted again at ARC Liquor, which has a wonderful tasting room at the back of the shop. They also introduced me to Chad Anderson, president and co-founder of Okanagan Whisky Enthusiasts—or O.W.E., as in: you ‘owe’ it to yourself to enjoy fine whisky.
Chad led us on a journey through Irish whiskey’s history: monks and distillation traditions reaching Ireland in the Middle Ages; uisce beatha, or “water of life”; the early licensing of distilling; the later rise of the pot still style; and Ireland’s enduring influence on the wider whiskey world.
And along the way, we tasted six whiskeys.
First up, as previously introduced, was the Powers Three Swallow Release, the whiskey featured in this cocktail. Bright, floral, and robust, it offered pot still spice, green banana, grapefruit, green apple, citrus, herbs, and cedar wood. It was an unusual combination that converged beautifully, and it was one of my favorites of the evening.
Next came Bushmills 12 Year Old, a single malt with butter, honey, and dried apricot on the nose. The palate brought dark chocolate, Oloroso-sherry richness, vanilla, and roasted nuts, finishing with dried fruit and toasted wood. A fine whiskey–and our first clear taste of how sherry casks can shape a spirit.
Then came Redbreast 12 Year Old, another single pot still Irish whiskey matured in bourbon and sherry casks. It showed rich dried fruit, toasted wood, and prominent baking spice. For many of our guests, this was the favorite of the evening: mature, smooth, layered, and exceptionally well honed.
Our fourth pour expanded the proof horizon. Writers’ Tears Cask Strength moved us from roughly 40% ABV into the mid-50s, and everyone felt that shift immediately. The nose carried butterscotch and honey; the palate brought toasted oak, dark chocolate, and vanilla; the finish warmed into ginger and spice. A few drops of water helped unlock it, turning intensity into something rather lovely.
Then came Blue Spot 7-Year-Old Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, matured in bourbon, sherry, and Portuguese Madeira casks. It had tropical fruit, robust pot still spice, and rich nutty sweetness. Despite a similar proof to Writers’ Tears, Blue Spot wore its alcohol more lightly, making it an easier and more immediately generous sipper.
Finally, Chad threw us a curveball: Waterford Peated Ballybannon, one of the rarer Irish whiskeys made with peated malt. It offered barbecue-like smoke on the nose, then crisp green apple, lavender honey, almond pastry, mineral fruit, and maritime salinity. It was not the favorite pour of the evening, but it did capture the Okanagan of the last month a little too perfectly: smoke in the air, fire up and down the lake, and a landscape trying to hold onto summer.
Afterward, we broke for a beautiful charcuterie spread from Curated Kelowna, and I poured pre-batched Irish Maids to accompany the food. The room filled with comparisons: favorite pours, travel memories, family stories, first trips to Ireland, and debates about sherry casks, proof, peat, and whether a whiskey needs water.
As I sat back and took it all in–another successful gathering, another feast for the senses–I felt a real surge of gratitude.
Gratitude for whiskey’s ability to carry history, place, and memory. Gratitude for the newcomers who have become friends. Gratitude for my family and for this chapter of life that gives me room to create experiences, bring people together, and share the things that move me.
A few years ago, my family concluded a two-week trip through Ireland. This week, in a tasting room in Kelowna, I found a little of that same feeling again: hospitality, conversation, curiosity, laughter, and a glass held up in thanks.
So I raise an Irish Maid to Ireland, to Kelowna, and to KNC.
I feel lucky as a four-leaf clover.
Sláinte! 🥃🍀💚
