Sesame Fat-Washed Japanese Whiskey
Deeply toasted sesame flavor and a beautiful, silky mouthfeel. Fat washing lets whiskey pick up flavor compounds from the sesame oil, then removes the bulk of the oil before it goes into a cocktail.
Toasted sesame oil is very strong, so a little goes a long way. My ratio is 5 ml toasted sesame oil for every 50 ml whiskey: 75 ml oil for a 750 ml bottle.
Ingredients
- 750 ml whiskey
- 75 ml toasted sesame oil
Directions
Combine and agitate
Pour a 750 ml bottle of whiskey into a large, wide-mouth mason jar. Add 75 ml toasted sesame oil, then close the jar and give it a gentle shake to mix.
Freeze and separate
Put the jar in the freezer. The oil separates and collects at the top while the whiskey takes on sesame flavor. This can take a few hours; I usually leave it overnight. Wait until the oil has separated and congealed into a layer on top.
Strain while cold
Take the jar out of the freezer, poke a small hole through the oil layer, and quickly pour the whiskey through a strainer before the oil starts to soften and melt back into it. Leave the separated oil behind.
The finished whiskey carries that rich, toasted sesame flavor with a rounded, silky mouthfeel. I often save the recovered sesame oil to use in cooking.
Variations & alternatives
Choosing the whiskey
Mars Iwai 45 is my favorite starting point. I like a balanced whiskey with different flavors working together. Sometimes I make my own blend of bourbons and peaty Scotches, balancing sweetness and smoke to create the sort of layered profile I enjoy in Japanese whiskey.
A quick shaker shortcut
In a pinch, use regular whiskey and add a couple drops of toasted sesame oil directly to the cocktail shaker. You get sesame flavor, but little oil droplets can remain on top of the finished drink. Fat washing infuses the flavor ahead of time and lets you strain away the separated oil for a smoother finish.