Cotswolds’ spirit still distills the sprit of the 60s for the distillery’s single malt whisky. Named Janis after the era’s blues screamer, Janis Joplin, the spirit still recalls one of Joplin’s most famous tunes and one of the most iconic rock songs of the Woodstock era, “Piece of my Heart”. And so the Cotswold distillers do, taking the “heart” of the distilled spirit while repurposing the “heads” and the “tails” not suitable for drinking.
English whisky may be at the heart of the still Janis, but at the heart of singer Janis was Southern Comfort, the American bourbon-based liqueur.
After that, the heavy-drinking, hard-drugging Queen of Rock would rarely be seen without a bottle of her favourite drink and was not shy to speak of her affection for SoCo. In the summer of 1968 she quipped to Time magazine “I may own that company some day”. Concert venues would stock her dressing room with bottles and local spirits shops would send cases to the concert halls she played in their towns.
No, Janis. We and the hardworking experimenters at the Cotswold Distillery certainly can’t. But then again, we’d rather our tastebuds fly high with a Cotswold’s Aviation than our heads reaching new heights on the copious amounts of Southern Comfort and whatever other little pieces of her heart that ran through Janis’ veins.
Method: Add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with some ice. Double strain into a frozen cocktail glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry.