Round 4 of the Mullen Bartending MLeague: White Whisky and Doggy Treats at Tusk

Over the last couple of years I have become an increasingly enthusiastic whisky drinker. The process began when I was persuaded to take part in a Liquorists whisky trail, and although there are still plenty I don't like - namely those nasty ones that smell like TCP - I would now consider whisky to be one of my drinks of choice (particularly if it's bourbon, or has ginger ale with it).

Turns out that I'm not quite ready yet for white whisky though. The spirit of choice for round 4 of the Mullen Bartending Northern Quarter cocktail league last Wednesday was Buffalo Trace White Dog, an unaged whisky weighing in at 62.5% ABV and frankly a little much for a panel of lady judges who all had work in the morning. The competition was hosted by Tusk with six bars taking part - and they had all clearly been working hard on their creativity, as the following pictures will show. My favourite presentation of the night was the Stag, Maple and Moonshine, which arrived with a selection of what we thought looked a little like dog treats (fittingly, considering the name of the brand) but which turned out to be candied bacon - you can see the judges' doggy treats in the third picture here. We also very much enjoyed the marmalade on toast that came with number four, the Cowboy's Breakfast, although this is perhaps now starting to say more about the greed of the judges than their whisky-judging credentials. The winner on the night though was the White Cookie, made by Simple, and an unsurprising favourite considering the blatent bribery tactic of stuffing it full of Oreos - it's the second picture here.

Overall, we felt that all the bars had done well with what was a pretty challenging spirit, and thanks must go to Tusk for hosting what turned out to be a pretty splendid (and raucous) night. The next MLeague round is on Wednesday 6th November at Walrus, and as the spirit of the night will be Remy Martin VSOP, I'm looking forward to it already...