Even if you do not play the Pipes or wear a kilt, Burn’s Night is another good reason to raise a glass.  Here are two Scotch cocktails to help celebrate the Baird.

Blood, Smoke and Sand

This cocktail is simply a Blood and Sand with a little smokey twist.  According to an article by Gary Regan, the Blood and Sand first appeared in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book and was probably named after the 1922 silent movie.  History aside, the Blood and Sand is an elegantly simple cocktail.  It is equal parts scotch, Cherry Herring, sweet vermouth, and orange juice, shaken and served straight up.  You can change the flavor of this drink a little by switching around different types of vermouth but the key ingredient is scotch.  I prefer a Highland Single Malt or a smooth blend for this cocktail.  The complexities of a Speyside are lost in this drink and an Islay can be over powering, but a touch of smoke is a great addition.  This version of a Blood and Sand gets that smokey twist from a mist of Laphroig as a garnish.  Just fill an atomizer with Laphroaig and you’re good to go.

• 3/4 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Cherry Herring
• 3/4 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
• 3/4 oz. Fresh Orange Juice
• Mist of Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch
• Orange peel for garnish

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake to chill
3. Double strain in to the chilled cocktail glass
4. Express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel
5. Apply 2 or 3 mists of Laphroaig from the atomizer over the drink
6. Serve immediately

The Rusty Nail

I have seen Rusty Nail recipes use anywhere from 4:1 Scotch:Drambuie to 1:1.  Since the exact ratio is variable, you should get a decent cocktail even from an inexperienced bartender.  In addition, you can add bitters and/or a twist of lemon.  Muddle a lemon peel and bitters in an old-fashioned glass, and then builds the drink  adding ice, Scotch and Drambuie.  This is my version of this cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Drambuie
• 1 dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters – optional
• 1 lemon peel – optional

1. Chill an Old Fashioned Glass with ice and water
2. Combine the Scotch, Drambuie and bitters (if using) in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass over a large fresh ice cube
4. Express the lemon peel over the cocktail and discard the peel.

I like adding the bitters.  They decrease the sweetness of the Drambuie without detracting from its flavors.  The lemon peel adds further complexity.

So, a fresh glass, a chunk of ice, some Scotch and a little Drambuie – you’re good to go!!

The Smokin’ Nail

For a twist on the Rusty Nail, try smoking the cocktail with Chai Tea.  The smoked chai tea really plays along with the background Drambuie. In addition, your guests will be impressed!  This requires a Smoke Gun.

Smokin’ Nail

• 2 ozs. Scotch
• 1/2 ozs. Drambuie
• 1 lemon zest
• 1 dash Jerry Thomas Bitters – sub Angostura
• 1 tsp. Chai tea

1. Smoke tea in gun with the tube placed in a lidded decanter.  When decanter is full of smoke, remove smoke tube and seal.
2. Chill a single old fashioned glass with ice and water.
3. In a mixing glass, muddle lemon zest with the Drambuie and bitters
4. Add Scotch and ice.  Stir to chill.  Strain into smoke filled bottle and reseal.  Give the drink a few good shakes in the smokey bottle.
5. Pour drink over fresh ice in the chilled old fashioned glass.
6. You can use the smokey bottle for 2 or 3 drinks.

Cheers!

Mixology Monday

It’s already Mixology Monday for October!  This Month we are hosted by Frederic of the  Cocktail Virgin and the theme is “Mashups.”  The challenge is to combine 2 cocktails into one Monster.  I started thinking of Scotch drinks, but nothing seemed to be anything special.  Looking at the Blood and Sand, a cocktail made with equal parts Scotch, Cherry Heering, Sweet Vermouth and Orange Juice, I was reminded of several other equal parts cocktails.  These included the Last Word, the Negroni, the Corpse Reviver,  the Vieux Carré (sort of) and the Blood and Sand.   I played around a bit and settled on “Monster Mashing” the Corpse Reviver (No 2) and the Blood and Sand.

As noted above the Blood and Sand, which was named after the popular movie of 1922, is made with equal parts Scotch, Cherry Heering, Sweet Vermouth and Orange Juice.  The Corpse Reviver (No 2), which dates back to Harry Craddock, is made with equal parts gin, maraschino liqueur, Lillet, and lemon juice with a dash or wash of Chartreuse.  My initial attempt was to use the Blood and Sand recipe and substitute gin for the Scotch and lemon juice for the orange juice.  so the drink was:

• Gin
• Cherry Heering
• Sweet Vermouth
• Lemon Juice

This drink was good but was pretty much Cherry Heering with citrus and some other background flavors.  So I decided to use maraschino liqueur rather than the Cherry Heering.  This works very well.  The herbals of the gin and vermouth are allowed to come through, but it’s really just a Corpse Reviver with sweet vermouth instead of Lillet.  So I decided to bring back the Scotch.  I did this with a Scotch wash and a shot back.  Now the Scotch plays along in the background bringing back the Blood and Sand like that other voice in the monster’s head!  Serving the Scotch along on the side re-enforces it’s presence as you enjoy the cocktail.

The Corpse in the Sand (No 2)

• 3/4 oz. London Dry Gin
• 3/4 oz. Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• 3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth – I used Dolin
• 3/4 oz. Fresh lemon juice
• 1 – 1 1/2 oz. Single Malt Scotch – I used Cragganmore a Speyside Scotch.  I wouldn’t suggest anything too peaty or smokey.

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Pour the Scotch into a Shaker tin with enough ice to chill the whole cocktail.  Stir briefly to coat the ice and slightly chill and dilute the Scotch.
3. Strain the scotch into a whiskey or shot glass and set aside
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the shaker and shake to chill.
5. Double strain into the chilled cocktail glass.
6. Serve the cocktail with the Scotch along side.

Cheers!

This cocktail is simply a Blood and Sand with a little smokey twist.  According to an article by Gary Regan on Liquor.com, the Blood and Sand first appeared in Harry Craddock’s The Savoy Cocktail Book and was probably named after the 1922 silent movie.  History aside, the Blood and Sand is an elegantly simple cocktail.  It’s equal parts scotch, Cherry Herring, sweet vermouth and orange juice, shaken and served straight up.  You can change the flavor of this drink a little by switching around different types of vermouth but the key ingredient is scotch.  I prefer a Highland Single Malt or a smooth blend for this cocktail.  The complexities of a Speyside are lost in this drink and an Islay can be over powering, but a touch of smoke is a great addition.  This version of a Blood and Sand gets that smokey twist from a mist of Laphroig as a garnish.  Just fill an inexpensive atomizer, (available here) with Laphroaig and you’re good to go.

• 3/4 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Cherry Herring
• 3/4 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
• 3/4 oz. Fresh Orange Juice
• Mist of Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch
• Orange peel for garnish

1. Chill a cocktail glass with ice and water
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake to chill
3. Double strain in to the chilled cocktail glass
4. Express the orange peel over the drink and float the peel
5. Apply 2 or 3 mists of Laphroaig from the atomizer over the drink
6. Serve immediately

Cheers!

The theme for this month’s Mixology Monday, brought to us this month by Dagreb of the Nihil Utopia blog, is Forgiving Cocktails, as in a “little too much of this and a touch to little of that.”  The challenge is to submit a cocktail that is tolerant of a bit of sloppiness in its preparation.  This lack of precision is, of course, exactly the opposite of what we generally do for this online cocktail party. While things like Rum and Coke or Jack and Coke came to mind, I decided on the Rusty Nail. In the past, I firmly believed that Scotch should be mixed only with ice or a few drops of water, if that.  This belief also included the doctrine that real Scotch wasn’t blended!  Well, I finally saw the light and discovered that good Scotch can make a great cocktail and that well made blends can make a great Scotch.

Mixology Monday

Sometime back, I posted the Smokin’ Nail.  This is a tea smoked combination of Single Malt Scotch and Drambuie.  I have seen Rusty Nail recipes use anywhere from 4:”1 Scotch:Drambuie to 1:1.  For the Smokin’ Nail, I used 4:1.  Since the exact ratio is variable, you should get a decent cocktail even from an inexperienced bartender.  In addition, you can add bitters and/or a twist of lemon.  Dave Stolte muddles a lemon peel and bitters in an old fashioned glass, and then builds the drink  adding ice, Scotch and Drambuie.  At this year’s Tales of the Cocktail, the folks from Monkey Shoulder were serving up a delicious Rusty Nail.  This is my version of that cocktail:

• 1 1/2 oz. Monkey Shoulder Blended Scotch
• 3/4 oz. Drambuie
• 1 dash Dale DeGroff’s Pimento Bitters – optional
• 1 lemon peel – optional

1. Chill an Old Fashioned Glass with ice and water
2. Combine the Scotch, Drambuie and bitters (if using) in a mixing glass with ice and stir to chill
3. Strain into chilled glass over a large fresh ice cube
4. Express the lemon peel over the cocktail and discard the peel.

I like adding the bitters.  They decrease the sweetness of the Drambuie without detracting from its flavors.  The lemon peel adds further complexity.

So, a fresh glass, a chunk of ice, some Scotch and a little Drambuie – you’re good to go!!

Cheers!

I generally use a blended malt scotch for this cocktail.  The smoked chai tea really plays along with the background Drambuie.  This requires a Smoke Gun.

Smokin’ Nail

• 2 ozs. Scotch
• 1/2 ozs. Drambuie
• 1 lemon zest
• 1 dash Jerry Thomas Bitters – sub Angostura
• 1 tsp. Chai tea

1. Smoke tea in gun with the tube placed in a lidded decanter.  When decanter is full of smoke, remove smoke tube and seal.
2. Chill a single old fashioned glass with ice and water.
3. In a mixing glass, muddle lemon zest with the Drambuie and bitters
4. Add Scotch and ice.  Stir to chill.  Strain into smoke filled bottle and reseal.  Give the drink a few good shakes in the smokey bottle.
5. Pour drink over fresh ice in the chilled old fashioned glass.
6. You can use the smokey bottle for 2 or 3 drinks.

Justin suggested I put in Scotch drinks.  So, this is my favorite.

• 12 year old Single Malt Scotch, such as Cragganmore
• Big Ice such as large cubes or a ball that nearly fills the glass
• Heavy rocks glass

1. Put ice followed by Scotch into the glass

Suggested pairings:  Beautiful woman, large leather chair, good cigar, pool table, dim lights….