Sliders and Whisky Pairings: Bite-Sized Pleasure

One of the more curious appetizers of the 21st century must certainly be the slider. After all, they’re simply sparingly garnished small hamburgers, yet sliders hold an allure their larger and more copiously accessorized cousins do not.

Perhaps it’s their cuteness. Or their portability. Or maybe they really are something quite different.

First introduced by the White Castle restaurant chain in 1921, it’s been said that the slider served to assuage the American public’s widespread distrust of the cleanliness of ground beef at the time, presumably the same reason the castle was white, suggesting hospital-like sterility. It’s only within the past two to three decades, however, that the slider has made the jump from fast food and hors d’oeuvres to restaurant staple.

Leaving aside for the moment the many variations served today, the basic mini-burger slider differs from its regular-sized counterpart due to the way it is cooked. Often pre-garnished, pickle and onions pressed into the raw meat, sliders must be cooked quickly so that they do not dry out, which affords them a different consistency. The sparseness of toppings further emphasizes the flavor of the meat.

The Pairings are Limitless

With everything from jackfruit to wagyu beef to lobster appearing in sliders today, I parsed the list down to four varieties for the purpose of pairing: the traditional cheeseburger, Buffalo or Nashville fried chicken, Hawaiian ham and cheese, and a vegetarian option of grilled mushroom and cheese.

With its relatively small surface area, a cheeseburger slider is typically topped with only pickle and onion, with ketchup and yellow mustard optional. Since beef and whisky go together like old friends, it’s hard to miss with this pairing regardless of your chosen whisky. Most versatile with those toppings, however, is a modestly to fully peaty scotch single malt that can elevate the flavor of the beef with its smokiness, while the meat and toppings bring forward the fruitiness of the scotch.

Where fried chicken sliders are concerned, the spice is the thing, and no whisky welcomes spice more than bourbon. Buffalo chicken’s medium heat calls for a whiskey with a moderately full, dry finish like Buffalo Trace. For the peppery heft of Nashville chicken, a slightly bolder whiskey with a single large ice cube fares well beside the elevated heat of the slider.

The classic Hawaiian ham and cheese is built on a King’s Hawaiian roll and includes sliced ham and Swiss cheese, topped with a savory, mustardy glaze and then baked. The combination of sweet and tangy flavors begs for a sweeter whisky, but not one that is too full-bodied, like a bourbon or sherried single malt. An Irish blend is ideal here, and better yet, one with a decent though not overwhelming pot still component.

Made with portobello mushroom and Gruyère cheese, the grilled vegetarian slider delivers alternating earthy, fruity, and nutty flavors that benefit from the addition of rye-derived spice in the accompanying whisky. Just be sure not to go too big on the rye, so as not to overwhelm the sandwich. Instead of an American straight rye, reach for a softer, rounder Canadian like Alberta Springs 10 year old or Powers Irish rye.

Try These Pours With Sliders

Hawaiian Ham and Cheese & The Busker Irish blend

The combination of single grain, single malt, and pot still whiskeys provides the character to complement the slider, while the ham brings forward the fruit in the whiskey.

Nashville Chicken & 1792 Bourbon on ice

A chilled, full-bodied bourbon works to temper the hot sauce-derived temptation to gulp rather than sip the spirit and also accents the flavor of the chicken.

Cheeseburger with pickle, onion, and ketchup & Bowmore 12 year old

Where the brininess of a pickle can ruin a whisky, the peat of the Bowmore keeps it in check while adding a barbecue quality to the slider and ketchup.