Cooper Union (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Leave it to Death & Co. to name a cocktail after a New York art university. I guess that the inference one can take is that artists like their booze. 

This is yet another Sazerac variation that does not include absinthe but uses Laphroaig as the primary scent on the glass. The smoke and peat really hit you when you get your nose close to the glass, but it is cut by the lemon oils from the twist. Once you delve beneath the surface, you'll find that the liquor beneath is extremely soft: Irish whiskey and St. Germain. The effect is a cocktail like the Sazerac (but with no added sugar syrup) that is far less bitter but just as aromatic. It is at once earthy and floral and goes down all too quickly.

• Laphroaig scotch
• 2 oz. Readbrest 12-year Irish whiskey (Slane Irish whiskey used)
• 1/2 oz. St. Germain
• 1 dash orange bitters (Hella used)
• 1 lemon twist

Rinse a double rocks glass in Laphroaig and discard. Stir the remaining ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and strain into the coated glass. Squeeze the twist over the glass and discard.

Devil Inside (Death & Co. Recipe)

I love the song "Devil Inside" by INXS. But humming along while drinking this scotch and rye cocktail makes me wonder which ingredient is the Devil. It must be the Rittenhouse rye. It is 100-proof after all, and it is nothing at all like the smokey scotches (of which there are two) in this recipe. 

Devil Inside is a take on a Sazerac that coats the glass in Laphroaig rather than absinthe like the recipe for Sazerac usually calls for. That's ok, because absinthe fans will still enjoy their favorite herbal spirit stirred into the glass. And maybe that's the Devil Inside after all.

• Laphroaig scotch
• 1 1/2 oz. Rittenhouse rye
• 1/2 oz. Bruichladdich scotch (or some milder Islay whisky)
• 2 dashes absinthe
• 1 tsp demerara syrup
• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• lemon twist

Rinse a rocks glass with Laphroaig and dump. Stir the remaining ingredients (except lemon twist) with ice. Strain into a rocks glass. Squeeze the lemon twist over the drink and discard it. 

 

Crane Kick (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Another Karate Kid cocktail because of the presence of Japanese whiskey. Not very original, but this combination of flavors is--and that is all we really ask for from Death & Co. 

This is an intense Tiki recipe that mashes up smoky scotch, malty whiskey, orange and orgeat and coconut notes in an adventure that nearly tells you a story with flavors. I imagine that the story goes something like this:

You are climbing a volcanic mountain in Hawaii and can smell the burning ash in the air from a recent eruption. On the way up you pick an orange and a coconut to enjoy at the top, but on the way you skin your knee and use a Band-Aid to mend the wound. 

In short, that is what this drink experience is like. I recommend everyone try it. It's not super approachable--I think of it as a stretch drink (smoky scotch doesn't appear often in tikis and the medicinal flavor is off-putting to some, but worth the try in this case.) Some drinkers just aren't as adventurous, but I encourage this kind of thrill seeking in cocktail recipes. 

• 2 oz. Yamazaki 12-year whiskey (Catoctin Creek Colossal X used)
• 1 tsp. Laphroaig 10-year scotch
• 2 tsp. coconut liqueur (Malibu used)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat (Fee Brothers used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with three ice cubes. Shake and strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. 

Shruff's End

This scotch cocktail is really going for medicinal flavors. There's nothing wrong with it, but it is a little jarring to smell and taste something that has iodine and plastic notes in it like a hospital wing or a box of Band-Aid bandages.

All of the ingredients are designed to magnify the medicinal quality, from the Peychaud's bitters to the Islay scotch--Laphroaig 10 is specified--and even the Benedictine and apple brandy are a calculated ploy to add other properties to the nose and taste that strike one as a medicinal compound from a pharmacy. And let's face it, cocktails were born at pharmacies and were used as curatives for all sorts of things before Prohibition and the FDA. It just takes a little getting used to these flavors. After sitting with them for a while, you start to appreciate what this cocktail is doing with ingredients; and you do start to feel like it is having a healthful effect on you. 

I'm not sure what occasion warrants a dose of Shruff's End, but this is clearly not a drink for all occasions and more of a specific tool for scratching a particularly unusual itch.

• 1 oz. Laphroaig 10 (Laphroaig Select used(
• 1 oz. Laird's bonded apple brandy (Applejack 86 used)
• 1/2 oz. Benedictine
• 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Pete's Word

 

A simple and amazing twist on a the classic Last Word with scotch and Dolin Genepy in place of gin and Luxardo maraschino liqueur. Definitely try this with Laphroaig for the smokey peat of the Islay scotch. This flavor is similar to the smoke from mezcal that goes so well with lime juice. It's a great combination, and Luxardo just makes the whole thing work, tying together peat, alpine spice and a highly acidic fruit juice into one harmonious cocktail. You'd think Pete's Word is one of the cannon originals of the classic cocktails.

• 3/4 oz Laphroaig single malt
• 3/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
• 3/4 oz. Dolin Genepy
• 3/4 ozlime juice

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

Looks Familiar (Difford's Guide Recipe)

 

There's something especially decadent about the spirits-forward tequila and amaro cocktail on a winter day. The way that spicy tequila mixes with bitters and bitter citrus Amer Picon should be better known among tequila afficianados. Add to that the smoke of Islay scotch and you have a cocktail fit for the menu of some of the best speakeasy-style bars. 

I've always considered tequila as as much a holiday spirit as sherry, rum, or whiskey, but just not used in a Margarita. You don't have to dispense with the agave syrup that you might use in some of the best tropical tequila drinks. Madhava agave syrup allows you to sweeten a cocktail in a way that respects tequila's agave plant origins. Unlike simple syrup, agave syrup is not just sweet: it has a mild herbal flavor and a richness that seems more refreshing in hot weather than a sugary drink does.

My take on this cocktail, is that it is flashy--on the palate--while looking like a whiskey cocktail. The drinker will be surprised that it is a tequila drink, and even after tasting it, will say "I don't usually like tequila, but this..." That's right: people don't like fake mixers. Amer Picon, Angostura bitters and agave syrup make it stand out on flavor when appearances are deceiving.

• 1/2 oz. Islay scotch (Laphroaig Select used)
• 2 oz. blanco tequila (Sauza 100% blue agave used)
• 1/2 oz. agave syrup (Madhava used)
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1/4 oz. Amer Picon
• orange twist

Coat the inside of a mixing glass with the Islay scotch. Then add ice,  tequila, agave syrup, bitters and Amer Picon in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Twist the orange zest over the glass and drop it in.