In a world where people actively avoid high-fat foods, whisky lovers can make an exception: washing fat through whisky introduces a whole new universe of delicious flavors. So forget diet culture and embrace the fat, at least for your favorite drink. Through fat-washing—a technique that imparts flavors from meat, plant, and oil-based fats into spirits—rich and savory elements can be added to any style of whisky. Complementing the natural flavors gleaned from distillation and barrel aging, whisky can be made even tastier by the likes of bacon fat, butter, or plant-based oils like olive, coconut, or sesame.
There’s science involved in fat-washing, but anyone can do it with the right tools. It’s a process of extracting fat from one source and rinsing it through another, thereby adding the flavors from the fat to the end product without adding the fat solids. There are a lot of steps, but it’s not as difficult as it looks or sounds. And the result, while potent by itself, creates some fantastic flavors for cocktail making.
“The primary benefit of fat-washing a spirit is the silky mouthfeel that results from the dissolved oils and fats that transfer over into the final product, and the other, more obvious benefit is the flavor yielded from those high-fat ingredients, which are always the tastiest,” says Justin Lavenue, co-owner of popular Austin, Texas cocktail bar The Roosevelt Room.
Variety of Fat Sources
Countless different fat sources can enhance whisky. There are the obvious choices—bacon and butter—but there are other options too, from olive, coconut, and avocado oils to peanut butter, wagyu beef, duck, or even foie gras. Some whisky styles do better with certain types of fats, so the key is finding complementary flavors, like rye and bacon or bourbon and butter. Alcohol content is a factor, too—the higher the proof, the more fat flavor it can absorb.
“Fat-washing is a great way to impart flavor, particularly umami and savory notes,” says Collin Griffith, beverage director for Colorado-based Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality Group, which manages restaurants like Oak at Fourteenth and Corrida in Boulder. “It’s important to think of the flavors of the fat and the flavor profile of the whisky. The chosen fat is going to impart a profoundly different flavor to the spirit.”
Bacon is a popular choice among animal fats, but it’s by no means the only option. At Corrida, Griffith fat-washes scotch with Wagyu beef fat, and at Tao Downtown in New York City the menu lists an Old Fashioned made with duck fat-washed Japanese whisky. Really, any kind of meat fat can be used as long as it’s properly prepped. Of course, the prep is key when dealing with perishable foods like meat, and in this case the fat has to be fully rendered—meaning cooked—to make it safe for consumption.
Plant fats and oils can add unique flavor too. A full range of oils can be used to fatwash spirits, including those sourced from olives, sesame, peanut, coconut, avocado, and palm, among others. On one hand, plant fats are easier to work with, as they’re usually more shelf stable than meat fats and therefore less in need of extensive prep and less likely to spoil. On the other hand, many plant-based oils are heavily processed when they’re made, which means they’re less flavorful than their meat counterparts. The ratio of fat to whisky is higher when using plant-based fats than it is for meat fats.
Butter is also a good source of fat for whisky, and it’s essentially a blank canvas for flavor. Butter by itself isn’t all that rich by fat-flavor terms. But its taste can be changed dramatically by browning it or by mixing in flavorful additions like truffle, basil, or garlic, which can leave a lasting flavor in whisky, as well as a rich texture and mouthfeel.
“Butter is fun because it’s a dairy fat that, when browned, provides a lovely nutty flavor that pairs nicely with whisky,” says Sean Patrick McClure, beverage director at New York City bar The Ivory Peacock. “All whiskies have different applications. I like coconut fat with full-bodied whiskeys like bourbon to impart flavor instead of body. And a nice lean scotch or high-proof rye works well with a richer fat like bacon, or other animal fats.”
Of course, bacon and bourbon are longtime friends, and many bartenders wash bourbon with bacon and other animal fats. Based in Denver, Deviation Distilling’s head mixologist Tiago Amaral believes the natural sweetness in bourbon is a great complement to both butter and bacon. “Fat-washing gives an infusion of flavor from the particular fat you’re using without the unwanted separation and fat solids,” Amaral adds. “It creates the perception of body and complexity.”
Fatten Up Your Whisky
The fat-washing process has several steps and requires a couple days to complete. But the work is worth the reward for a more
1. Pick Your Flavor
Choose your whisky and your fat. Take into account what you plan to do with the finished product. If it’s for a specific cocktail, be sure to consider the other ingredients so you have complementary flavors.
Try this: rye and bacon, bourbon and coconut, Japanese whisky and sesame oil, scotch and browned butter, or Irish whiskey and duck fat.
2. Organize Your Supplies
Along with whisky and fat, you’ll need two airtight containers with lids (think: mason jar, canning jar, or food-storage container that holds at least 32 ounces). You’ll also need a pot or pan to render (cook) the fat, a measuring cup, a fine mesh strainer or funnel, and cheesecloth or coffee filter.
3. Prep The Fat
Render the fat, meaning heat it up until it is hot and liquified. For meats: Heat meat in a saucepan until it is fully cooked and you have pan drippings.
For butter: Heat until it’s melted and then brown it or mix in herbs, spices, or other flavorful additions of your choice.
For plant and vegetable oils: Warm briefly over low heat to express the flavors in the oil. When properly heated, the oil will be more fluid, less viscous, and have a stronger scent of the fat from which it’s based.
4. Take Measurements
Don’t overdo the fat! Adding too much will overpower the whisky. Generally, for bacon and other high-fat meats, as well as for high-flavor oils like peanut oil, sesame oil, cacao butter, etc., you need 3-4 ounces or less of liquified fat per 750 ml of whisky. Start slow by adding 1-1 ½ ounces of fat. Use more if the flavor isn’t prominent enough in Step 6.
For butter and plant oil-based fats, you need upward of 8 ounces of liquified fat per 750 ml of whisky. Again, start slow. You can always add more fat but you can’t lighten it up once it’s been mixed into the whisky.
5. Mix It Up
Pour a full bottle of whisky into a sealable, heat-safe container. Add the warm liquid fat. Stir vigorously or cover tightly with the container’s lid and shake. You can also use an immersion blender to fully mix the fat and whisky (blend for a minute or less before sealing the container). Note: After this step the whisky-fat mixture will be very cloudy.
6. Taste Test
Let sit for 10 minutes and then do a taste test. Dip a spoon or stirrer all the way into the infusion to make sure you’re getting the washed whisky and not just the fat floating on top. If the flavor from the added fat is to your liking, continue on. If you think the flavor should be a little stronger, add another ounce of fat and shake/stir again. Repeat until you get the desired flavor. Once done, cover tightly.
7. Rest Up
Let the sealed container sit at room temperature for 12 hours. Keep it out of direct sunlight. After a day of rest, much of the fat will have coagulated and floated to the top of the whisky. Do not shake.
8. Chill Out
Place the room-temperature mixture into the freezer for 12 hours, until the fat that has risen to the top of the container is frozen solid. The liquid underneath will not freeze.
9. Poke And Strain
Using a sharp object, poke two holes into the frozen disc of fat. One in the center to give the infused whisky an exit, and another near the edge to allow air in so the infusion can pour out. Note: a metal straw or small fruit corer works well for this.
Gather the second jar or container, the fine strainer or funnel, and cheesecloth or coffee filter. Line the strainer or funnel with the cheesecloth or coffee filter and place them on top of the clean container (if using a strainer, make sure it is small enough to fully fit inside the mouth of the clean jar). Pour the liquid from the infusion jar through the strainer or filter and into the clean jar. This will remove any remaining fat solids.
Repeat as necessary. The liquid will likely be cloudy after the first strain and require 1-2 more passes through a filter-lined strainer or funnel into a clean jar. Each pass will further clarify the infused whisky.
10. Discard The Fat
Discard the frozen and strained fat. For ambitious bakers, if you want to impart whisky flavor into other items, you can reserve some of the leftover fat for pie crusts and the like.
11. Label And Store
Label and date your finished product. The fat-washed whisky should be shelf stable once the fat solids are removed, but many bartenders refrigerate it, especially if they don’t go through the whisky very fast. As a general rule, whiskies washed with oilbased fats should be shelf-stable without refrigeration for several months. Meat fat-washed whiskies do better in the fridge and should only be stored for a few weeks.
