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COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK: THE EMERALD ISLE'S MOTLEY MUSICAL MIXTURE
Mar 19, 2015
Below is an excerpt from GINNED! Magazine about Blackwater Distillery's Nº 5 London Dry Gin. Every month, Craft Gin Club members receive a bottle of amazing small-batch gins accompanied by GINNED! Magazine which is full of features about the gin, the distillery and loads of fascinating features.
The recipe for the Emerald Isle cocktail may strike you as an odd mixture - it’s not every day that gin is paired with a Corsican mint-based liqueur. Another odd concoction representing the Emerald Isle comes in the form of the country’s celebrated musical tradition, particularly embodied by what is arguably its best proponent in recent decades, the world-famous Irish music group, the Chieftains.
Over fifty years of music making which includes a repertoire of over 500 compositions, 44 albums and concerts in front of Queen Elizabeth, members of the US Congress, and Pope John Paul II, the Chieftains always stuck to their Irish music roots, drawing their sound from traditional instruments like the uilleann pipes, the whistle and the Bodhran. Despite their roots, the group has always been able to cross artistic boundaries, finding followings in places they had not expected and playing with a mixture of musicians that you might find, well, odd.
One example of their kooky collaboration came with the 1995 album, the Long Black Veil, which sold millions of copies around the world. Each song is a different collaboration, one stranger than the next. Artists from the Emerald Isle such as Sinead O’Conner and Van Morrison play on critically acclaimed tracks while American slide guitarist Ry Cooder and crooner Tom Jones have a go at folk music. But perhaps the strangest studio partner is the Rolling Stones, or so it would seem on the surface.
The Stone’s love of The Chieftains dates back to their roots. Mick Jagger originally brought a Chieftains album back to London to play for his bandmates, the first of many times the world’s greatest rock band listened to the world’s greatest Irish music group. Keith Richards has said, “Since the first time I heard The Chieftains I’ve never travelled without them.”
The Irish group’s founder, Paddy Moloney, even recalls attending a party at Stones’ deceased guitarist Brian Jones’ London flat and hearing sounds he had recorded. “I couldn’t believe the Rolling Stones were playing the Chieftains”, remembers Moloney. “Brilliant!”
Emerald Isle
35ml Blackwater No. 5
1 teaspoon green crème de menthe
3 dashes Angostura bitters
Mix all ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Pour over ice in an Old Fashioned glass.
