Scotch Whisky Cocktails

Make With: 

Any good single malt or blended scotch on hand, & Laphroaig.

Penicillin

With cold and flu season upon us, we recommend this home remedy as the best cure for "whatever ails ya".  Liquid therapy comes in the form of the Penicillin cocktail from Sam Ross.  It tastes surprisingly complex for such few ingredients and the pleasant scotch smokiness does not overwhelm the overall taste of this drink.

Australian- born Ross helped his mother and sister open Ginger, a cocktail bar in Melborne in 2001.  Now in the U.S., he is somewhat of a Mixologist celebrity.  Ross was named a 2008 Rising Star by the great culinary insider's website StarChefs.com.  That light has not diminished.  Ross is master bartender at New York's prestigious Milk & Honey and Little Branch restaurants.  He also consults on bar and cocktail menus for new clubs, as far away as Comme Ca and Sona in Los Angeles.  Ross has raised his craft to an art form and is not afraid to experiment with scotch as a cocktail base.  For this we salute him and invite you to enjoy his signature drink.

ingredients

Makes 1 drink

2 oz. any favorite single malt or blended scotch (lighlty peated)

1/4 oz. Laphroaig

3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

3/4 oz honey-ginger syrup

Garnish with candied ginger

preparation

The syrup is easy to make using honey and slightly less than equal parts water into which you add large slices of peeled fresh ginger.  Boil in small saucepan over medium heat then allow mixture to cool leaving the ginger to infuse the mixture until it reaches the desired flavor balance of honey and spice.  Remove and disgard the ginger.  Strain into container.

Combine ingredients in shaker with ice.  Strain into rock glass, ideally with one very large ice cube (dilutes the drink slowly) and garnish with candied ginger.

Make With: 

This cocktail was designed to use 

Glenrothes

Select Reserve.

Scottish Breakfast

Pass the maple syrup!  Erick Castro's whimsical cocktail offers up a surprising alternative to apple pancakes for breakfast.  This recipe could easily win a prize for the most unique scotch based libation and "attention grabbing" name.  Erick plays off of the fruity character of apple brandy and the spark of Glenrothes Select Reserve whisky.  Maple syrup stays with the theme and cream works to marry all flavors.

At 14 years of age, Erick entered the restaurant business on the bottom of the rung as a dish washer for a Southern California eatery.  He soon realized that the real magic happened behind the bar and made up his mind to pursue a career in bartending.  Over the years, Erick's interest in cocktails has evolved into true passion for the profession.  He has been known to travel far and wide to sample the latest and greatest new spirit.  Clearly his creativity shines with the unexpected flavors of this scrumptious beverage.  While The Rickhouse might not be open for breakfast, it is here you will find Erick Castro running the bar program at this popular establishment located in the Financial District of San Francisco, California.

ingredients

Makes 1 drink

1.5 oz. Glenrothes Select Reserve

0.5 oz Calvados or other fine apple brandy 

1.0 oz cream

0.5 oz Grade B maple syrup (high quality syrup)

Dash simple syrup

Garnish with freshly grated cinnamon

preparation

Combine ingredients in shaker with ice.  Shake vigorously then strain over rocks in a double old-fashion glass.  Garnish with freshly grated cinammon.

To make a simple syrup, blend equal parts of sugar and water in a saucepan over medium hear until sugar has completely dissolved.  Cool before using.  Refrigerate remainder.

Make With:

Compass

Box

Peat Monster

or other favorite

smoky

dram

Photo courtesy

of

Will Blunt

at StarChefs

Seafoam 

Seafoam conjures up a wonderful image of gentle waves lapping the shore as you walk the beach on a clear summer morning. In fact, remembrances of his childhood in Cape Cod inspired Adam Bernbach to create this "perfect for the season" cocktail.

Adam is without argument, one of the most inventive mixologists to hit the Washington D.C. bar scene.  We think his Bacon Martini (actually bacon-infused scotch) is pure  genius and for the newly opened Estadio, Adam developed his own take on the blended Margarita.  His "Slushito" made with quince, sherry, lemon, paprika and scotch has become an instant favorite with lucky locals.  Mixing magic started at the tender age of seven when Adam figured out how to produce his own egg cream.  At 16 Adam apprenticed at  a micro coffee roastery near his high school then moved on to develop an interest in well-crafted spirits.  With a few bartending posts in between, he is now managing the bar at Proof in D.C., where he was also tapped to develop the beverage program for contemporary Spanish themed restaurant Estadio. 

Known for his relentless experimentation, Adam's endless curiousity  drives him to explore not only unique flavor combinations but to push the boundaries on technique. There seems to be a real culinary influence to his salty, sweet and sometimes savory liquid creations. It is truly evocative how the sea salt enlivens the other flavors in his Seafoam cocktail while adding perfectly to the theme of sea air.  He likes to use scotch to imbue cocktails with unique smoky tones, but also shares with us that the cereal notes can also be pretty rewarding to utilize.

ingredients

Makes 1 drink

1.5 oz Compass Box Peat Monster Scotch (or other equally smoky dram)

0.75 oz Manzanilla Sherry

0.5 oz Lemon Juice

0.75 oz Honey syrup

1  Egg White

Garnish:  Grapefruit Bitters & Sea Salt 

preparation