take Boss Molly to bed with a palate-igniting Foreplay Cocktail

Make happy hour far happier and deliciously more magical with the sexiest pre-game warm-up in town: The Boss Molly Foreplay Cocktail. This spin on a Manhattan adds warmth from bitters and an irresistible cocoa rim that might just cause you to linger, tease and stretch that foreplay a few more sips. Thanks to Boss Molly co-founders Brandi Bowles, Victoria Horn and Kate Rosante for their mad whiskey-innovating genius.

After the cocktail, read an excerpt from our interview with Brandi.

xxx

you sweated every last detail when it comes to Boss Molly — what is the best way to experience her and what can we expect from a sensory POV?

brandi bowles, co-founder Boss Molly

Yeah, I mean, we never shame those that want to start with a cocktail. Boss Molly holds it great in an old fashioned, and really announces the almond and spice notes in a mixed drink. But if you are on the palate-development journey, or if you are a more experienced bourbon drinker, I do recommend trying it straight, or maybe with a very small piece of ice, and that way you're going to get the whole flavor without any dilution. What you'll find is we have an incredible aroma that everybody loves. It's got a really warm butterscotch quality, with a little almond and vanilla and maybe a little floral honeysuckle note, too. And then when you take that first sip, you'll get the heat, and that's where you're going to get a little leather and cinnamon, maybe some cocoa. And a lot of people get a touch of citrus on the palate as well.

And we get the most love for our finish. It's really a showstopper. It sort of unfolds in a bunch of different layers, starting with the sweet from brown sugar and almond and brandy to a baking spice and a buttery toffee. So that finish is wild. It will just keep changing flavor in your mouth for a solid 40 seconds. It's pretty cool. And that's one reason that bourbon is so sexy, because it's not Diet Coke. It really is a drinking experience, and it will linger on your tongue with all that sweet, sort of buttery heat. So yes, it's quite a taste experience.

you talked a little bit about how you guys infused your palates into the brand and into the flavor profile, but I'm wondering how you also infused some of your passions and personalities into Boss Molly.

brandi bowles

So Boss Molly itself, the name is an old farming term that means a stubborn female mule, and that is something we really resonated with. The bourbon itself is pretty ballsy and experimental. We've got a brandy stave finish, and we did it a little differently than you typically see. So what's common in the bourbon world are cask finishes, and that's where once the bourbon has aged in its new oak barrel, then it's dumped into a cask that has been used to age something else, maybe port or sherry or wine. And so that's one way, in fact, the only legal way of bringing a slight twist in flavor to a bourbon. But what we do is different.

We take brandy barrels and we break them down into pieces that are called staves, and then we toast the staves. So we get a 360-degree toast on every side. And that's very important. That brings a lot of vanillin and savory chemicals to the surface of the wood, natural chemicals that when you put them in the whiskey, have a huge impact on the flavor. So once again, this was the wisdom of amateurs. No one told us we couldn't do this. It is 100% a similar process to cask finishing, but our own variation. So that was very much us trying to do something new, and it turned out terrific. The flavor is pretty standout for what else is on the shelf. But yeah, everything's in the packaging, which is both elegant and has a little bit of humor snuck in there, even the shape of the bottle, which we chose because we thought it would be good in a bar fight, even though none of us have ever been in a bar fight. It all has our DNA all over it.

given it has such a unique taste experience and profile, what are some off-radar ways we can play with it in cocktails or recipes?

brandi bowles

I made Boss Molly brown butter pecan cookies this winter, and they were pretty amazing. I am not going to pretend like I'm a very in-depth baker, however, and typically if I'm baking, I'm not using the good bourbon. You know what I mean? Yeah. But we do love cocktails. It really does stand out in a cocktail and makes it something special. One of my favorites, which a lot of people are unfamiliar with, is the Boulevardier, which is essentially just a bourbon negroni. And the best thing about it, it's pretty easy to remember. It's just 1 ounce bourbon, 1 ounce vermouth and 1 ounce campari, and it's not a super sweet drink, but it's got a beautiful red color and is very impressive, and people really enjoy that one. And I'm a huge fan of the gold rush, which is like an elevated whiskey sour. So these are drinks that if you love cocktails or you're new to bourbon are a fun way to start, and you'll get the flavors of the whiskey there in the drink, but they're a little slightly lower ABV and something you can really enjoy with a crowd.

What will you be pairing with your Boss Molly Foreplay Cocktail this week? Give us your inspo...