Scotch Lady

 

The Pink Lady is a great gin cocktail that is at once classic and up-and-coming in the bar scenes. It's a descendant of the Fizz without soda. Now that gin is coming back, The Pink Lady is popular again. I think it is because it is so light and refreshing, and that means a change in the base spirit changes the drink. Any restaurant can swap out a unique gin, something like Old Tom or infused gins, and you have a drink that many will enjoy as if for the first time. 

This rendition, the Scotch Lady, is a simple swap out of ingredients that goes slightly richer with apple brandy and scotch as the main ingredients. When you first try it, you get mostly apple and lemon notes. A lot of the freshness of the Pink Lady. In the aftertaste, there is a throaty hum of peat and malt from scotch. Famous Grouse is a nice blend for this drink because it isn't shy. A rustic blend, the Grouse has character by itself but is tame with company like egg white and lemon juice. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Famous Grouse scotch
• 1/2 oz. Laird's Applejack 86 
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1/4 oz. grenadine
• 1 egg white
• brandied cherry garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker and shake without ice. Then add ice and shake to chill. Strain into a chilled coup and garnish with a cherry. 

(Barrelhound) Kona Cooler

This cocktail is one of my go-to drinks at parties where people are asking for a tropical drink with whiskey. It is fun to watch their faces when I tell them there's scotch in the drink while they sip it for the first time. It's overwhelmingly exotic and not at all stuffy like a single malt drink. Barrelhound really does appeal to non-whiskey drinkers, especially when used in this way.

• 1 1/2 oz. Barrelhound whiskey
• 1 oz. creme de cacao
• 6 oz. lime juice
• maraschino cherry

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a Collins glass full of fresh ice. Garnish with the cherry.

Scotch & Milk

What's this? I mean, really... What? An old man showed asked me to make this at the bar today. It turns out that scotch and milk, specifically Dewar's and milk is not so bad after all. This is, of course, the time of year when you will drink the strangest things because it is part of a holiday tradition. I'm talking about eggnog. If you think that is normal, than' what's wrong with scotch and milk.

The milk simply softens the scotch's liquor flavors and gives the drink fattiness on the mouthfeel. Scotch is naturally spicy, so it fits with a holiday theme. I thought this was so funny I had to post it.

• 1 1/2 oz. scotch (Dewar's recommended)
• 1 1/2 oz. milk

Build drink in a rocks glass full of ice and stir.

Modern #1

Ever since I made the Modern #2, I've been looking for a good Modern #1 recipe. The problem is that this is very much a sloe gin cocktail, not a scotch or rum one. This makes it significantly wetter and juicy. Hella orange bitters helped dry the flavor out and give it some complexity. Interestingly, I found myself relishing the plum and absinthe flavor that rises from this drink and that the bitters help along. Another interesting point was how well Johnnie Walker Red Label blended with the flavors, only appearing mid sip and almost unnoticably. I recommend trying this with more peaty single malts for more spice or a softer blend for something silkier.

• 1 1/2 oz. sloe gin
• 3/4 oz. scotch
• several dashes triple sec
• several dashes Pernod
• several dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain over fresh ice in an Old Fashioned glass. 

Penicillin

This is one of the best scotch sour type cocktails I've had. It's pretty new, having only been around for the last few years. Bartender Cole Burger at the Blue Duck Tavern tells me that it has been used as a test to see if a bartender knows what's going on. I obviously didn't know what was going on, but I know I've had this drink before, I just didn't know its name. The recipe that follows is an approximate of Sam Ross' original recipe.

The trick with this drink is to float the Islay single malt scotch on top to give the drink a peaty and nutty scent. 

• 1 1/2 oz. blended scotch
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. Islay single malt scotch 
• lemon twist

Combine blended scotch, lemon juice and sugar syrup in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Float Islay malt on top and garnish with a lemon twist. (Squeeze the zest of the twist on top and drop it in the drink.)