Homemade Salted Caramel Whiskey

You read that right!  The whiskey is not homemade, but the caramel and the love that went into it sure is.

While on a trip this September to Nashville, I picked up a single bottle of Ole Smoky Whiskey Salted Caramel.  The bottle didn’t last more than two weekends and living in Ontario,  I have no choice but to come up with the next best thing.   My own!

The Mrs. and I Googled a few ideas and they all used store bought caramel with cream and use a double boiler, freeze overnight to remove the milk solids but I had a different idea in mind, simple sugar and salt.  We couldn’t really decide on what one to try, so we made both.

The start of the store bought butterscotch caramel whiskey mix.

Store Bought Salted Caramel Whiskey 

• 375 ml Jack Daniels or your choice of whiskey
• 200 ml good quality caramel, we used President’s Choice Butterscotch Caramel
• 1 tsp kosher salt

1. In a double boiler, add the 200ml of caramel and heat till liquid.
2. Take caramel off heat and add salt, whisk.
3. Add 375 ml Jack Daniels and whisk to combine.
4. Toss in the freezer overnight or until milk solids freeze.
5. Skim off milk solids from the top of whiskey mixture.
6. Pour into a mason jar or any glass bottle.
7. Enjoy straight or over ice.

Repurposed a 375ml bottle of Kraken to measure out the Jack Daniel’s.

Homemade Salted Caramel Whiskey

Kosher salt, sugar and 1/2 a 750ml bottle Jack Daniel’s.

• 375 ml Jack Daniels or your choice of whiskey.
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp corn syrup
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup water

1. Prepare an ice bath for the cooking pot you are using.
2. Pour whiskey into a heatproof bowl.
3. Add sugar, corn syrup, water to a heavy bottom cooking pot.
4. Turn burner to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil.
5. Swirl the pot on the stove once it begins to turn amber and the water is evaporated.
6. Keep cooking the sugar mixture, until a deep golden brown.  This is a tricky step, I’ve burnt a few, I’ve undercooked a few, it just takes time and patience to get it right.

   

   Caramel just starting to turn amber, keep a good eye on it.

7. Remove from the heat and place in an ice bath, to stop the sugar from cooking and then add the salt.
8. Once the caramel is cooled, pour into the whiskey and whisk to dissolve any sugar bits.

The whiskey and the caramel become one.

Final Results

We had 4 taste testers, as we made this at a dinner with friends.   All of us preferred the homemade caramel version compared to the store caramel.  The whiskey was clear and not cloudy due to the milk in the store bought version.

The two versions of our homemade caramel whiskey, store caramel on the left and homemade caramelized sugar on the right.

We all found the 1 cup of sugar to 375 ml whiskey made it a little thick like syrup but it had a better mouth feel than the store version.  I would suggest you play with the caramel to whiskey ratio to your individual taste.  My next batch, YES there will be next batch will be 1/2 cup sugar to 375 ml Jack Daniels, or because it won’t last long one cup of sugar to 750 ml bottle of Jack.

As soon as I get the sugar to whiskey ratio figured out, the plan is to try different types of whiskey,  like Irish or even some excellent Candian Rye Whiskey.  Of course, as these happen they will be posted with the instructions and the taste test results.

If you try this and use a different whiskey, or a ratio of sugar, homemade caramel, store bought caramel, please let me know and I’d be happy to try and make a batch to share around the campfire this summer!

The Winner

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