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4 Best Liquors to Go with Lamb Chops

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Getting the perfect mix of food and drink can be a challenge, but putting in the effort can elevate your meal to the next level. Pairing brings out the fine, delicate flavors of both the dish and the alcohol—just like how Chardonnay's buttery feel can further highlight the creamy taste of chicken marsala, or how the smokey, charred oak notes in bourbon go fantastically with a well-cooked brisket. Your cooking deserves that same complementary elevation.

If you've already taken the trouble to go over our article "Spring Grilling: Lamb Chop Cooking Tips and Tricks with The MeatStick MiniX" and are planning to grill some juicy lamb chops to perfection, you should find the best liquor to bring out their richness. Here are two everyday—and two unique—liquors you can pair with your next serving.

Red wine

First up is the classic red wine, which consists of dark-colored grapes crushed and fermented in their skins. It's one of the most common and delicious drinks to pair with lamb chops. Lamb chops tend to have a smokey flavor that strikes a sumptuous balance between fatty and lean, so you'll want to ensure that it neither overpowers your wine nor underperforms with its own taste. A great match would be wine from the Northern Rhône Valley in France, as its smokey character and notes of black pepper can beautifully mirror the palate of your lamb.

Whiskey

Another reliable choice is whiskey. This amber-colored liquid is often made out of fermented grain and aged in a wooden cask. It has a minimum of 40% alcohol by volume. Unlike red wine, you don’t want the flavors of whiskey and meat to mirror each other completely—rather, you want them to complement and accentuate one another. As such, an excellent selection to pair your lamb chops with would be the Macallan Double Cask 18 Years Old, a single-malt drink with citrus tones and a warm spice finish. Taking a dram with lamb chops will highlight the tenderness of the lamb and the depth of the whiskey’s flavors.

Bignay wine

Considering that there are many tried-and-true liquor pairings you and your house guests have sampled before, you might relish swallowing something a little different. This traditional Filipino drink is made from a small, local berry of the same name. With its deep maroon coloring, you might mistake bignay (also called bugnay) wine for a red—but its subtly sweeter, slightly tart flavor and its heady fruitiness mark it out as unique. A popular choice is the Bielma bugnay wine. Its medium-bodied character will make it a great pairing for your lamb chops, as well as give the taste an exotic twist.

Arak

This ancient Middle Eastern spirit can be a marvelous addition to your dinner. It consists of crushed white grapes that are fermented and distilled, showered with crumbled anise seeds, and distilled again. In fact, you can boast how Arak is one of the oldest distilled drinks in the region—or you can let the drink do the talking. Its appearance already has a showmanship quality: transparent at lukewarm, it turns into a milky white when chilled. A great choice to pair with your lamb is the Persian Empire Arak Saggi, specially made of sultana raisins. The fat of your lamb chops will do great in balancing out Arak’s high alcohol content as well as sharpen its pure, subtle flavor. Just make sure you serve your Arak on the rocks.

You've already taken the steps to make a lovely dinner. Find the best liquor that goes with your lamb chops, and you'll help your next meal graduate from good to unforgettable.

Written by Karen Tracy for The MeatStick