Cranachan relies on a number of important ingredients, namely some plump Scottish raspberries, perfectly whipped cream and, of course, the whisky.
You can use a single malt, a good blend or even a whisky liqueur. They all work and bring an extra wee touch of Scotland to the dish.
If you decide on a single malt, I would suggest avoiding the island or coastal drams as often the smoky, salty or phenolic notes associated with these excellent products will overpower the other flavours in the dish. As always, you’re looking for balance.
Instead I would head for Speyside, arguably my favourite malt destination. Situated in Morayshire, Speyside is a sub-region of the Highlands and with over eighty working distilleries, it accounts for about 60% of Scotland’s malt production.
There is no overall distinct style of Speyside, with the offerings ranging from light and fresh such as Glenlivet through to the richer and very heavily sherried drams such as (the always impressive) Mortlach. The similarity in the region comes from the lovely soft water which has a low mineral content and very little influence from peat. This results in sweet and subtle drams. And this means you can add them happily and with gay abandon to desserts such as cranachan.
A fantastic option is Carn Mor’s five year old bottling of Aultmore (Inverarity One to One, £34.99). This is a great wee dram that punches way above its weight considering its young age and surprising price-tag. On the nose you get lots
of dried fruit and a wee touch of neroli oil. On the palate, it’s all about the fruit cake and cinnamon spice with a hint of creamy chocolate. Sadly only 860 bottles were produced as part of Carn Mor’s Strictly Limited range and there are understandably precious few left. You should grab one before I drink them all.
Now, if you’d prefer a blend, you have a huge range to choose from. You can go for a blended whisky (a blend of malts and grains) or a blended malt (a selection of single malts married together with no grain whisky in the mix). Both are worthy and have their benefits.
My top choice would be the Monkey Shoulder (Tesco, £27). This is a blended malt (no grain) featuring the very tastiest of barrels from Glenfiddich, Balvenie and Kininvie. It is incredibly approachable and more-ish. Add some to the cranachan
and then watch the bottle disappear after dinner. Just remember to dram responsibly.
Some very high-profile chefs have been known to feature Drambuie in their cranachan recipe, but my liqueur preference would be for the Bruadar (Inverarity One to One, £21.99) which has a distinctive honey note that would match the dish perfectly.
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