Wandering Rye Whisky · Recipe 39
Cherry Pop Smash
Aged whisky. Fresh cherries. Obvious in retrospect.
Ingredients
- 55 ml Wandering Rye Whisky
- 3 lemon wedges
- 12 fresh mint leaves
- 20 ml simple syrup (1:1)
- 6-8 fresh cherries, pitted
Method
Smash & build. Serve in a Rocks glass (crushed ice). Garnish with Cherry + mint + lemon.
The story
The Whiskey Smash was popularised by Dale DeGroff, the 'King Cocktail' himself, who served it at the Rainbow Room when he was rebuilding the world's understanding of what bartending could be. It's lemon, mint, simple syrup, whisky — muddled and served over crushed ice. Simple, brilliant, and seasonal. Fresh cherries meet Wandering Rye's sweetness in a way that seems inevitable the moment you taste it. The 18-year caramelisation has developed a depth that is deeply compatible with stone fruit. A cherry-lemon smash with Wandering Rye is not a modification — it's a discovery.
Tasting note
Vivid ruby red in crushed ice, smelling of summer orchards before it's technically summer. The rye spice cuts through cherry sweetness, mint adds green freshness, and the corn whisky's warmth is the undertow of every sip.