Rob Roy

[BlairF27]

I've tried making a few Rob Roy's lately and have not been entirely happy with the results. The first one was with Aardbeg and lasted like a slightly sweet ashtray. The second was with Highland Park 12 year, and worked better, but I thought it still seemed unbalanced. Does anyone have a favourite scotch that works for them?

Blair

Good Spirits News

[slkinsey]

Your problem is that you're making the drink with single malt scotch. The Rob Roy (and, indeed, almost all cocktails) calls for blended scotch. Try The Famous Grouse.

[suzilightning]

Your problem is that you're making the drink with single malt scotch.  The Rob Roy (and, indeed, almost all cocktails) calls for blended scotch.  Try The Famous Grouse.

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exactly what he said. this is the best one i have found to use.

[jsmeeker]

I've only made them with Johnnie Walker Black. It's just happens to be the only Scotch I have on hand.

[johnder]

Grouse or Compass Box Asyla are two great choices.

[brinza]

White Horse and Ballantines are decent mixing Scotches as well. If you absolutely must use a single, Glenlivet 12 or Speyburn might work, but malts like Ardbeg or Highland Park are way too intense for that purpose. I suppose through a lot of experimentation with different kinds of bitters and vermouths you could achieve a workable arrangement, but you'd probably waste a lot of good malt in the process. I do occasionally find myself zeroing in on some cocktail recipe that calls for scotch only to realize I've got like 6 malts and no blends on my shelf. If I'm bent on making the cocktail, I'll try to choose the most neutral of the lot. (In some of those situations I just say screw the cocktail and pop open the Talisker)

[KatieLoeb]

Famous Grouse (preferred) or Dewar's are best in this application, as well as in other scotch cocktails like a Blood & Sand.

[Mayur]

IMO, Grouse is the best for this, with Asyla coming a close second.

Jim Meehan at PDT mixed me an awfully nice version of this cocktail the other night with Asyla, Carpano Antica, and a 1/4 oz of benedictine. The benedictine does nice things for this drink.

[slkinsey]

The addition of Benedictine makes it a Bobby Burns.

[Mayur]

D'oh! Of course. I just had Rob Roy on the brain for some reason.

[Berlioni]

Single Malts do work on a Rob Roy or a Bobby Burns. Nothing less than Carpano AF, though.

Each Whisky needs to be balanced distinctivly with Vermouth.

The Islands need almost the double amount of Wine, compared to a Speyside Malt.

One good working choice for the Blood And Sand is Laphroaig:

40-50 ml Laphroaig 10y

20 ml Carpano AF

10 ml Boudier Guignolet de Dijon

15 ml Orange (half Orange, quarted and muddled inside the mixing glass)

Shaken and double-strained.

Enjoy.

[David Santucci]

I agree. No reason you can't use single malts in cocktails. Frankly, I'm surprised the Highland Park wasn't a winner. I would try messing around with the proportions. I can say for sure that Glenfarclas can be used to make fabulous Bobby Burns and the like. Since I started messing around with single malts my bottle of Grouse has been getting very little use. I have also have success with McClelland's Islay, which is a cheap single malt (it's something like 5 yrs. old) and lends that peaty flavor to all the classics. It is considerably more subdued that something like an Ardbeg, however. You could probably make some cool cocktails with a whisky like that, but I would be inclined to use it as a flavoring agent rather than a base spirit.

[phlip]

I saw Dewars noted above. Please lets stick to scotches worth mentioning and more importantly worth drinking. I also highly recommend Asayla and Grouse, and I know its popular enough to despise sometimes but Macallan 12 really does make fine fine Rob Roy among other scotch cocktails. One other thing is if making a rob roy and one desires peat instead of using and Islay for the base one can use say an asayla and add an additional quarter ounce or merely a rinse of a highly peated scotch to keep it company. Sammy Ross is particularily good at this. The Fitz Roy is a fine drink.

[KatieLoeb]

My recommendations are for a commercial environment, not home use. At home, one should clearly use whatever their preference is. However, at least in the bar I work, if someone orders a Rob Roy, the guest will receive one made with either Dewar's or Grouse. It seems to me to be more consistent with what most folks would expect, as well as being relatively cost effective for the bar. If a more sophisticated guest walked in and wanted a Dalwhinnie Rob Roy, I suspect they'd order it that way.

[Amarantha]

Not having any blended scotch, I made some Rob Roys with the mixingest scotch I had, which was an 18yo Glenfiddich. It worked quite well

[BlairF27]

Thanks for all the advice! I've heard nothing but good things about Famous Grouse, so that will be my first blend to try.

I realize that proportions are everything, but also wondered about types of vermouths. How about Lillet Blanc as opposed to Noilly Prat? For that matter, how about Blanco versus Rosso?

[David Santucci]

I realize that proportions are everything, but also wondered about types of vermouths.  How about Lillet Blanc as opposed to Noilly Prat?  For that matter, how about Blanco versus Rosso?

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First off, I would recommend reading up on vermouths, and aromatic, fortified wines in general. Robert Hess has a nice primer on vermouth here. Lillet Blanc is considered a 'quinquina' - an aromatic, fortified wine with quinine as its primary bittering component. It is not completely dry either. Other quniquinas include Dubonnet and Cocchi Americano.

As for vermouth brands, there is general agreement that Noilly Prat is the gold standard for dry (aka French) vermouth. In my book, Carpano Antica Formula is the way to go for sweet (Italian). It can be hard to find, though. For other brands, people seem to be split as to whether Cinzano or Martini & Rossi is best. I have heard mention of Dolin, but don't know anything about it personally.

Hope that helps.

[FrogPrincesse]

Here is the Bobby Burns mentioned upthread, which is a Rob Roy with Benedictine replacing part of the sweet vermouth. I used the ratios from the Bartender's Choice app (which differ from the recipe published in the Savoy Cocktail Book and that Erik discussed here). The Benedictine smoothes the edges of the Rob Roy so it worked very well.

[Adam George]

I made a Rob Roy, I think, not a Bobby Burns, with Edradour 10 and it was bloody great.

Funny that someone should knock Dewar's but take Grouse instead - in England, it would be the other way around, every time.