To say I'm a huge fan of chicken wings is an understatement, throw in some smoke and sauce and I'm a happy woman. I've been playing around with various rubs and flavours over the years with this recipe as well as different types of smoking woods. 

The smell when cooking is fantastic as you get a vanilla oaky rich whiskey hit from the staves and then the whiskey glaze to finish the wings just tops it all off. The rub backs up the flavour profile in the whiskey sauce. Teeling Small Batch is a rum cask finish, with a little sweetness and spice on the palate so you need corresponding spice notes to back it up when cooking with. The chaat masala gives you the high note spices and sourness and the cinnamon gives you that rounded background note with a follow up of sweetness from the garlic, paprika and onion. 

Spice Rub
20g sweet paprika
5g smoked hot paprika
5g chaat masala
5g oregano (dried)
5g celery salt

5g onion powder

5g garlic powder

2g cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients together

Whiskey Glaze
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
4 shallots (finely chopped)
20ml chipotle in adobo
20g pork dripping or 20ml sunflower oil
70ml Ketchup
20ml Dijon mustard
60ml cider vinegar

50ml apple juice
190ml whiskey Teeling Small Batch and 10ml for finishing the sauce
10 dashes Worcestershire sauce
30ml soy sauce
30g brown sugar
30ml honey

I prefer to make this sauce the day before, it allows the flavours to develop and the whiskey is more pronounced.

Fry off the shallots and garlic on a low heat in the pork fat until soft and glossy
Add the chillies and chipotle and cook for a further 5 minutes
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine, bring to the boil briefly for 1 minute
Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened

Stir in the 10ml of whiskey when finished
Allow to cool before using

Wings

1kg chicken wings ( approx 10)

20g pork fat or 50ml rapeseed oil

Coat the wings in the fat/oil and then sprinkle over the rub, ensuring they are well coated

You can either vacuum pack the wings or place in an airtight container in the fridge for 48 hours

Set your barbecue up for indirect cooking at 220c

I like to layer the charcoal with oak blocks and chips or you can place the chips/blocks on the coals once they have reached the right temperature

Place the wings on the barbecue with a drip tray underneath

Allow the wings to cook at 220c for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 180c and cook for a further 20 minutes

After the 20 minutes has elapsed, baste one side of the wings with the glaze and cook for a further 5 minutes

Turn the wings and baste the other side, cook for a further 5 minutes 

Take the wings off the barbecue and rest in a warm place for 10 minutes before serving