The story of the Vienna in Ashes

How do you come up with the idea of pouring a smoky Islay whisky into a dark chocolate liqueur? You have to ask bartender Philipp Bischoff. Because this gentleman invented the „Vienna in Ashes“, while he was still working as a bartender at „Le Lion“.
I first became interested in this odd drink in an episode of Jörg Meyer’s „Empfehlungen eines Trinkers“ (sorry, it’s only German). Jörg Meyer talks up the „Vienna in Ashes“ in his usual, skillfully sympathetic way in his podcast series, I just had to create it for myself.

Ingredients for the Vienna in Ashes

The first ingredient for the „Vienna in Ashes“ is a must: Mozart Dark Chocolate. There is no substitute. Please do not use white Creme de Cacao liqueur. Your result will not be the same as with Mozart Dark Chocolate, both in terms of taste and visual appearance.

Ingredient number two: the orange liqueur. The market offers a little more flexibility here. In the end there are only two manufacturers to choose from: either Grand Manier or Dry Curaçao from Pierre Ferrand. Both products are cognac-based orange liqueurs. Again, keep your hands off the clear orange liqueurs such as Cointreau or Giffard and save them for your „Cosmopolitans“.

And now for the ashes. Philip Bischoff uses the quarter cask whisky from Laphroaig. I don’t have it to hand at the moment, so I’m using the 10 Years from the same distiller. The key point is that is has to be smoky and peaty, otherwise the drink doesn’t work as it was intended. It should also work with other peat monsters such as „Ardbeg“. Nevertheless, I’ll stick with Laphroaig.

This drink is usually served in a tumbler on ice. But I like the idea of serving it in a large cognac snifter.

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