Mixing your Scotch
While there are many classic whiskey cocktails, there aren’t many that call for Scotch. Here are some of the best known ones.
IT is time for another session of Know your Cocktails! In the last Tipsy-turvy, I tackled the great Martini family of drinks. This week, let’s focus on a base spirit instead, one that is enjoyed tremendously in this part of the world, but not necessarily in cocktails – Scotch whisky.
Yes, while there are lots of whisky cocktails out there – the Old Fashioned, the Manhattan, the Whisky Highball, just to name a few – there are not that many that specify Scotch whisky as its main ingredient. Many classic whisky cocktails tend to focus on American whiskies like bourbon or rye whiskey, but Scotch? Not so much.
Maybe it’s the fact that most Scotch whiskies have their own individual characteristics, some fruity, some peaty, some oily that’s the beauty of Scotch in the first palace, that there is such a spectrum of flavours to choose from.
At the same time, however, the different flavours also make it tricky to make cocktails with. Most of the recipes I found online call for “Scotch whisky”, but don’t really specify what style of Scotch whisky. With that in mind, I decided to raid my home bar for different styles of Scotch and make some classic cocktails out of them.
Atholl Brose
Let’s start off with what is arguably the oldest cocktail in the list. In fact, there is reason to believe that the Atholl Brose is actually the oldest cocktail in the world, since there are tales of it dating all the way back to the 1400s!
The most famous tale involving the drink is that of John Macdonald of Islay who started a revolution against King James III of Scotland in the 1400s. He met his match, however, in John Stewart, 1st Earl of Atholl and the King’s ambassador to England.
The legend goes that in 1475, John Stewart filled the Macdonald army’s well with a liquid that consisted of Scotch whisky, oats and honey, and once the Macdonalds were drunk on the liquid, he swooped in and captured them.
Anyway, today that mixture of Scotch, oats and honey is known as Atholl Brose, a traditional Scottish drink that is usually drunk on New Year’s Eve. There are many differing recipes for the drink, but the basic principles remain – oat milk (or oat-flavoured water, which you can make by steeping steel-cut oats in water overnight), honey, and Scotch whisky.
Many modern recipes also include cream, which makes for a richer drink.
While many recipes call for a blended whisky, I decided, what the heck, let’s use a nice single malt for this one. I’ve always had a soft spot for Glenmorangie, and since it was recently relaunched in Malaysia, I used the Glenmorangie Original for my Atholl Brose.
The drink I made used two shots of whisky, one shot of oat milk, two barspoons of honey and half a shot of cream, shaken over ice and strained into a chilled cocktail glass.
I was expecting the light, fruity flavours of the Glenmorangie to be overpowered by the oats, cream and honey, but surprisingly, the whisky took charge from the very first sip, those distinct fruity, malty notes cutting a swathe through the richer flavours of the drink, but not completely overshadowing them. The oat and honey give the drink a breakfast-y quality, but the fact that the whisky stood out so well was a real surprise to me.
Rob Roy
Arguably one of THE best known of Scotch whisky cocktails, the Rob Roy is also a direct cousin of one of the most iconic cocktails ever – the Manhattan.
While it’s easy to call the Rob Roy a “Scotch Manhattan”, the use of Scotch over rye whiskey makes this a much more versatile drink. I personally prefer a heavier style of Scotch, like an oily Springbank single malt or a sherry-heavy Macallan or Glenfarclas, or even a more robust blended whisky, so the vermouth and bitters don’t overpower the whisky.
Peaty whisky works too, but it can be easy for that peat to overpower the vermouth instead.
When I made this, I decided to go for a robust Campbeltown whisky – a Springbank 12 Year Old Cask Strength and paired it with a single cask vermouth bottled by Malaysian independent bottler Eiling Lim.
Some might say it’s a waste of good, nay, great whisky and vermouth, but this was a real treat to drink, as the robust nature of the cask-strength Springbank gives it a solid structure that stands up formidably against the vermouth’s elegant, silky sweetness.
Bobby Burns
Also called the Robert Burns, this cocktail is named after one of Scotland’s most famous sons, the poet Robert Burns, and made by mixing one part Scotch with half a part of sweet vermouth and half a part of Benedictine D.O.M. herbal liqueur.
While there are shades of the Rob Roy here thanks to the sweet vermouth, the addition of the Benedictine gives this drink a herbal note that stands out in the drink, but doesn’t overpower the whisky and vermouth’s influence.
Rusty Nail
Drambuie is a Scottish liqueur made with a blend of Highland and Speyside grain and malt whiskies sweetened with Scottish heather honey and sugar and infused with a secret recipe of spices.
Traditionally drunk neat or on the rocks as a digestif after dinner, it is also the defining element of the classic cocktail called the Rusty Nail, which is basically Scotch whisky and Drambuie.
I made my Rusty Nail with three parts Copper Dog blended malt whisky and one part Drambuie, and the liqueur still managed to stand out quite distinctively.
Godfather
Two ingredients, one great tasting cocktail. The beauty of this cocktail, made by mixing equal parts Scotch whisky and Italian Amaretto (almond liqueur), is that you can use different styles of Scotch, and the Amaretto will bring out the different nuances of the whisky.
I used a peaty Ardbeg Uigeadail for mine, and those smoky notes went brilliantly with the Amarettos’ sweet, nutty flavours. Be careful though, this is one easyto-drink but boozy concoction.
Penicillin
While we’re talking about smoky Scotch whiskies, here is another classic that uses smoky Scotch. However, the smoky whisky here is used not as a base, but as a flavour enhancer, to give the drink a smokier aroma.
Invented in the 2000s by bartender Sam Ross, who was then at New York cocktail bar Milk & Honey, the Penicillin mixes blended Scotch whisky, honey ginger syrup, lemon juice together, then floats a layer of peated Scotch floated on top of it for a smorgasbord of flavours ranging from peaty to sweet to sour and spicy.
Blood And Sand
Last but not least, is the Blood And Sand, named after 1922 classic movie of the same name. The original recipe that first appeared in the Savoy Cocktail Book back in 1930 called for Scotch whisky, sweet vermouth, Cherry Heering cherry liqueur), and blood orange juice. However, fresh orange juice is also commonly used.
The blood orange is supposedly the component that gave the drink its name (and blood red colour), but even without it, this was still a velvety, fruity drink with a lovely malty foundation thanks to the Scotch (I used a Balvenie 12 Year Old Doublewood for this, which gave a lighter texture to the drink).
Michael Cheang didn’t give exact recipes for these drinks because he made them his way, and he’d rather you tailor your own drinks according to how you like it. Contact him on Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy), Instagram (@Mytipsyturvy) or Twitter (@Michaelcheang).