Spirit Of Scotland

This cocktail features Drambuie, the proprietary "spirit of Scotland." It is Scotland's answer to Irish Mist, Southern Comfort, and Chambord (or maybe Chartreuse). So the Spirit Of Scotland is lemon juice, scotch and a liqueur that is made of old (reportedly 15-year-old) scotch and heather honey and spices. You can use a pretty uninspired blended scotch for the base liquor--it is really only intended to turn a small amount of Drambuie into a cocktail-sized portion. Johnnie Walker red label will be more than adequate because it has a lot of character. After trying a cocktail with Johnnie Walker black label, I noticed the smoke and reek of red standing out better than the black label did.

• 2 oz. scotch
• 3/4 oz. Drambuie
• 1/4 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Hole-In-One

This cocktail had the promise of being a delightful treat that makes the best of a blended scotch's natural flavor. That is why I chose to use Johnnie Walker black label to accentuate soft peated and oak notes of the whisky with orange bitters and dry vermouth.

It was enjoyable, but I was surprised at how much dry vermouth covers the scotch's richness. Like all cocktails, there is a softening of the flavors of the base spirit, but in this case I would prefer to stiffen it. Maybe this could be done with more bitters and only a rinse of vermouth in the glass.

• 2 oz. scotch 
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• several dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.