Hand-crafted cocktails are all the rage right now so far be it from The Style Gathering to not jump on board.  This is a recipe that Rebecca Williamson of Holmsted Fines created using her amazing Peach Chutney.  We used Clyde May’s Whiskey, a handcrafted Alabama whiskey which I discovered this past summer at Jones Valley Teaching Farm‘s Cocktails on the Farm.  This is a perfect cocktail for, as my father-in-law Rusty Stewart calls it, “defensive drinking” during the holidays.

“The Jacque”
(makes 2 cocktails)

2 Tablespoons of Holmsted Fines Peach Chutney
6 ounces of Clyde May’s Whiskey or your own preference
1 Tablespoon of simple syrup or agave nectar
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1 sprig of mint
club soda
ginger beer

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and combine the first five ingredients.  Shake well for 30 seconds.  Pour into two cocktail glasses with ice and top with equal parts of club soda and ginger beer.
Enjoy!

Clyde May’s image by Jennifer Hagler