Whiskey old fashioned with ice sphere and orange peel
Photo: Shutter Shoalwater / AI Generated

The Story

So there I was, winter of 2018, sitting at the Cisco tasting bar after hours. Randy Hudson—one of the founders, the kind of guy who knows more about fermentation than should be legal—slides a bottle across the counter.

"Notch," he says. "Single malt. Aged in our own beer barrels."

I'd heard rumors about this stuff. A whisky made on Nantucket, aged in barrels that once held Whale's Tale and Grey Lady. It sounded like a marketing stunt. The kind of thing that works better in a press release than in a glass.

Then I tasted it.

It wasn't bourbon. It wasn't Scotch. It was something else—malty and smooth, with these ghost notes of beer that shouldn't work but absolutely did. Like the barrels remembered what they used to hold and whispered it to the whisky.

"This is incredible," I said. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

Randy shrugged. "Figure it out. You're the bartender."

He left me alone with the bottle. Which, in retrospect, was either incredibly trusting or a test. Possibly both.

I tried it in a Manhattan first. Too complex—the vermouth fought with the beer barrel notes. Tried it neat. Beautiful, but not a cocktail. Tried a sour. Close, but not quite.

Then I went back to basics. Old Fashioned. Sugar, bitters, spirit, twist. The original cocktail, the one that lets the whiskey actually be the star.

But not just any bitters. I used orange bitters to highlight the malt sweetness. Demerara sugar for depth. A fat orange peel, expressed and dropped in.

First sip and I knew. This was it. The drink that Notch was waiting for.

I texted Randy a photo. He replied with one word: "Finally."

The Recipe

Glass Rocks
Prep Time 3 min
Difficulty Medium

Ingredients

  • Notch Single Malt Whisky 2 oz
  • Demerara sugar cube 1
  • Orange bitters 2 dashes
  • Angostura bitters 1 dash
  • Orange peel wide strip

Instructions

  1. Place sugar cube in glass. Use a rocks glass, preferably one that's been in the freezer. Add the bitters directly onto the sugar cube.
  2. Muddle gently. Not aggressively—you're dissolving sugar, not making mojito. A splash of water helps if the cube is stubborn.
  3. Add the whisky. Pour the Notch directly over the muddled sugar.
  4. Add one large ice cube. Or a few smaller ones if that's what you have. Large is better—slower dilution.
  5. Stir gently. Maybe 15-20 revolutions. You're chilling and integrating, not aerating.
  6. Express the orange peel. Hold it over the drink, skin-side down, and twist. You'll see the oils spray across the surface. Drop it in.
  7. Contemplate. This isn't a shot. This is a meditation. Treat it accordingly.

Porter's Notes

The combination of orange and Angostura bitters is important. Just Angostura overwhelms the malt character; just orange is too one-note. Together, they create a complexity that lets Notch do its thing.

Demerara sugar is non-negotiable. White sugar is too clean—you want the molasses depth that brown sugar brings. If you can't find Demerara cubes, use a bar spoon of Demerara syrup (equal parts sugar and water, stirred until dissolved).

The Cisco Connection

Notch Single Malt Whisky is unlike anything else on the market. It's distilled on Nantucket and aged in barrels that previously held Cisco beers—Whale's Tale, Grey Lady, Indie Pale Ale. The beer-barrel aging gives it a subtle malt sweetness and these faint hop echoes that disappear if you think about them too hard.

It's not trying to be Scotch. It's not trying to be bourbon. It's trying to be a Nantucket whisky, and it succeeds completely. Worth every penny of the premium price.

Serve This When...

  • It's after 9pm and the day has earned a real drink
  • Someone says they've "tried everything"
  • You're explaining why local spirits matter
  • The fireplace is going and you have nowhere to be

The Honest Truth

This cocktail requires Notch. There is no substitute. The whole point is showcasing what makes this whisky unique—put any other spirit in there and you've just made a regular Old Fashioned.

Notch isn't cheap, and it's hard to find off-island. Buy a bottle at Cisco, bring it home carefully, and save it for when you want to remember what Nantucket tastes like. This drink will take you right back to that tasting bar.