One of my all-time favorite summertime beverages is the Apricot Bourbon Smash cocktail! I love Bourbon Smash cocktails, they are some of my favorite cocktail recipes and I experiment with a wide variety of fruits and berries when making Bourbon Smash recipes. Sweet, cool and refreshing, it’s easy to drink and easy to make. I use Apricots in this Bourbon Smash cocktail, but all stone fruits are excellent with bourbon. Peaches, plums, and nectarines have all been amazing as substitutes for apricots. When muddling fruits or berries in cocktails I mix it up quite a bit and I usually just go by what looks the best when making a selection.

I always taste a slice of the apricot before making my Apricot Bourbon Smash cocktail recipe to determine how sweet it is. Not all apricots are created equal and some will be sweeter than others. I use a sweet maraschino cherry liqueur and Lillet Blanc as the sweetener, and I vary the amount of the maraschino cherry liqueur based on how sweet the apricot is in order to get the best results. I’ve found that apricots are usually at the peak roughly around the first or second week in August. They’re sweet, juicy and just about the most perfect thing you’ve ever tasted. Mix in a little ice cold bourbon, and some lemon and you’ve got yourself a party.

There is a lot of fruit being muddled in this cocktail and it will clog up your cocktail shaker in the blink of an eye. For best results, muddle the fruit and liquor together in a tall glass without then strain the mixture into a cocktail shaker over ice. You’ll save yourself a big mess!

Here’s my Apricot Bourbon Smash Cocktail recipe:

INGREDIENTS for two cocktails:

• 1 Apricot (or 1 Peach, or 2 plums, or 1 nectarine)
• 4 Ounces Bourbon
• 1 Ounce Aperol Orange Liqueur
• 1-2 Ounces Luxardo Maraschino Cherry Liqueur
• 1 ½ Ounces Lillet Blanc
• 1 Lemon, juice
• Mint
• Maraschino Cherry

PROCESS:

-Slice the apricot in half and remove the stone, slice each half into 6-8 slices (depends on the size of the peach)

-Taste a slice to determine how much maraschino cherry liqueur to use.

-Reserve 4 slices for garnish

-Place the remaining apricot slices into a tall glass, add the liquor and muddle the mixture well

-Add ice to a cocktail shaker and strain the muddle liquor into it, cover and shake well

-Strain into a tumbler over ice

-Garnish with apricot slices, lemon slice, a maraschino cherry and mint

I hope you enjoy my Apricot Bourbon Smash Cocktail recipe! And if you like whiskey, like I like whiskey, try some of my other recipes from my blog, listed below!