Last Updated on September 20, 2021 by Heather Wibbels
What’s fall without your favorite ripe fruits muddled into a bright whiskey sour like this fig and pear whiskey sour? While I’ve done both fig and pear drinks in the last few months, a trip to the fridge meant I had plenty of both on hand, and plenty ripe ones at that. I’m firmly season-centric with this pear and fig smash/sour featuring some lovely McConnell’s Irish whisky. The name of the post is a nod to the cult classic and their easy going attitude.
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While working on this cocktail, I nosed some of my newer whiskey bottles, and this Irish whiskey already had a bit of pear and apple flavors on the nose, so I wanted to blend that sweet fig notes as well. I’m always choosing base spirits for cocktails based on aromas, so if you find me in the kitchen with six open bottles of whiskies and spirits, you’ll know what’s going on.
Flavor Notes for theMcConnell’s Irish Whisky
First, about McConnell’s Irish Whisky. You all know I love whiskey, but mostly dabble in American whiskies. A lot of Irish whiskies seem a little too tame to me. But this McConnell’s has a finish and taste that really reminds me of bourbon. According to the label it’s aged in bourbon barrels, so perhaps that’s where it’s getting those more aggressive notes.
But it’s one I’ll be sipping neat and working with for cocktails.
On the nose you can tell it’s an Irish whisky. But I get a lot of dried apple and pear notes in the aromas, with that faint grain/barley note common in Scotch and Irish whisky. This particular whisky has a blend of single malt and grain whiskey and perhaps it’s the grain whisky that’s giving the taste that extra kick.
Flavor-wise, the mouthfeel is on the sides and back of the mouth, leading to a great, malty finish. There’s a back note of smoke in the finish, and it’s a lovely neat sipper for me.
Flavors in this Fall Fig Whiskey Cocktail
Whiskey sours might be more common in summer, but paired with ripe fruit from any season, a freshly shaken sour can be a revelation. This cocktail muddles figs and ripe pears with some Besamim spiced liqueur, full of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. Add some lemon, simple, Irish whisky and dash of bitters and you’ve got a great cocktail.
If you don’t have the Besamim from Sukkah Hill Spirits, a little allspice dram will do.
My Fig Sour (https://www.instagram.com/p/CGIzak_lquf/) a few weeks ago was such a hit on Instagram (and at the house) I knew I wanted to use my remaining figs in a sour again. One box of ripe pears later I had a combination of figs and pears that created a fabulous flavor combination and mouthfeel.
One of the things enjoyed most about the fig whiskey sour was the creamy mouthfeel from the muddled fig. With the soft texture of muddled pear added, the cocktail was even more perfect than the original fig sour.
To learn more about the whiskey sour you can check out my article on How to Make an Easy Whiskey Sour. And if you want to learn fancy egg white/aquafaba cocktails, head here .
How to Make this Fig Whiskey Sour
This Fig and Pear Whiskey Sour (sorry, this Fig Lebowski) gets a huge boost in flavor and mouthfeel from the fresh muddled figs and pears. I use very ripe fruit when I make a muddled drink to get a huge boost of flavor from the fruit.
In this fig sour I also added an egg white for two reasons. One, it made the cocktail even creamier and silkier, and two, it provided a beautiful platform for a dried pear slice added to the top as garnish.
To put this cocktail together, add the pear and figs to the bottom of a shaking tin with the simple syrup (fig simple syrup if you have it), lemon juice and the Besamim liqueur. Muddle the fruit well, then add the whiskey and egg white.
Because I’m using egg white here you can either dry shake with one ice cube for 30 seconds, then add ice and shake for 15 more. Or, you can fill with ice and shake for 30 seconds, then strain into a clean tin and use a latte whisk on it for about 10-15 seconds to get that beautiful head of foam.
Either way, once in the chilled cocktail glass garnish with a dried pear slice, apple slice or even fresh fig if you have it.
Other Fall Cocktails You Might Enjoy
Recommended Bar Tools
You don’t need every slick, beautiful bar tool out there, but there are several I’ll recommend. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, that does not affect the cost of the items below.) My favorite pieces usually come from the Cocktail Kingdom section of Amazon:
You may already have these bar essentials, but just in case:
The Fig Lebowski – a Fig and Pear Whiskey Sour
Ingredients
- 2 slices fresh pear chopped
- 2 small fresh figs chopped
- 1/4 oz Besamim spiced liqueur
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 2 oz McConnell’s Irish Whisky
- 1 egg white
- Garnish: dried pear
Instructions
- Combine pear, figs, lemon juice and spiced liqueur in a shaking tin and muddle well. Add simple syrup, whiskey, and egg white. Add ice and shake for 60 seconds. Double strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a dried pear. The double strain will take a while given the muddled pears and figs, but it leaves enough texture in the cocktail that the mouthfeel is amazing.
