The Scotch rinse

[organicmatter]

Hey ladies and gentlemen - long time listener; first time caller.

I've been playing around with with Manhattan variations lately - different whiskey:vermouth ratios, bourbon, rye, regular proof, overproof - the list goes on and on. (Read on for my current favorite.) I also just bought a bottle of the Macallan cask strength (which is delicious, by the way). I'm not a huge proponent of the Rob Roy, and I'm not quite ready to dump an once and a half of pricey Scotch into my mixing glass, but one thing led to another a few nights ago, and I ended up rinsing my cocktail glass with the delectably high-proof Macallan. The result was fantastic.

The rinse changed very little about the flavor of the drink at first sip, but completely changed the finish - as the spice of the rye and sweetness of the vermouth and apple brandy (like I said, recipe follows) trailed off, the Scotch really asserted itself.

I'm not a Scotch expert at all, so I'm not sure whether the long finish of the Mac cask strength is a happy coincidence for this particular cocktail or whether I've merely discovered what everyone else already knew. Either way, I'd welcome other ideas for cocktails that use a Scotch rinse, or those that might be tasty served in a glass with a peaty washdown.

[organicmatter]

I almost made a liar of myself - here's what I've been drinking lately:

1.5 oz. rye (I've been using Pikesville - it doesn't impress me much, but it lets the other flavors though, which works in this case)

.5 applejack (Laird's bonded)

.5 Carpano Antica

dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel-Aged

dash Regan's Orange

Stir and serve up in a cocktail glass rinsed with Scotch (Macallan cask strength).

Edited July 30, 2008 by organicmatter (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Welcome, organicmatter, the Society!

I can't find it, but somewhere around here or elsewhere I read about a Laphroaig rinse. That one is more for nose than finish, iirc.

[Alchemist]

Here are two from The Violet Hour. The Blue Ridge was inspired by a lunch of pulled pork. And the Fairview by what it smells like camping. The ponderosa and fire.

But these are riffs on a drink called the Fitzroy by Sammy Ross of Milk and Honey.

BLUE RIDGE MANHATTAN

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye

¾ oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

½ oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth

2 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

Rinse Laphroig

1 dash Peach Bitters

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Lemon Pigtail Twist

Rinse Coupe with Laphroig and Peach Bitters. Stir. Strain. Serve Up.

FAIRVIEW MANHATTAN

2.0 oz Bulleit Bourbon

1 oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth

.5 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth

11 drops Peychaud’s Bitters

Rinse of Laphroig

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: 5 drops Pine Liqueur

Small Lemon Peel, light oil.

Ice: None

Stir. Strain. Serve up.

Cheers,

Toby

[Chris Amirault]

Of course:

Here are two from The Violet Hour.  The Blue Ridge was inspired by a lunch of pulled pork. 

BLUE RIDGE MANHATTAN

2 oz Rittenhouse Rye

¾ oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth

½ oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth

2 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

Rinse        Laphroig

1 dash Peach Bitters

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: Lemon Pigtail Twist

Rinse Coupe with Laphroig and Peach Bitters.  Stir.  Strain.  Serve Up.

←

That's the one. No wonder I couldn't remember. As I indicated in this enthusiastic post about a trip to the wonderful Violet Hour, it blew me away:

I went off-menu for what turned out to be the best drink of the night: the Blue Ridge Manhattan, which Michael very kindly made for me as I watched and chatted at the bar. When I asked for a drink to feature the house peach bitters, he built this fantastic cocktail while we shared complaints about the limitations of some existing products. He rinsed a glass with Laphroaig and then peach bitters, stirred up some Jim Beam rye, NP dry vermouth, Carpano Antica, and Peychaud's, and finished with a skilfully long lemon twist. (It's possible that I messed up this recipe, I'll admit; in a note-perfect moment of speakeasy theatricality, Michael dropped a wee dram of the peach bitters on his hands, rubbed them together, and held his palms up to my outstretched nose to inhale the magnificent aroma. I nearly swooned, and thus can't be held accountable for details on what immediately followed.)

We talked about this Manhattan for a long time at the table. It was such a deft twist on the drink's base that it had a lightness of being that none of us could quite articulate -- and the fact that the drink is built around rye, bitters, and smoky Laphroaig makes that lightness remarkable. It's a Manhattan like no other.

Thanks, Toby, for the receipt.

[bostonapothecary]

i want to drink that...

[brinza]

FAIRVIEW MANHATTAN

2.0 oz Bulleit Bourbon

1 oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth

.5 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth

11 drops Peychaud’s Bitters

Rinse of Laphroig

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: 5 drops Pine Liqueur

  Small Lemon Peel, light oil.

Ice:  None

Stir.  Strain.  Serve up.

←

Wow, this sounds great. I'll have to use Lagavulin, but that should work just as well (more smoke).

Call me strange, but the "no ice" idea actually appeals to me (I often make iceless Old Fashioneds).

[organicmatter]

FAIRVIEW MANHATTAN

2.0 oz Bulleit Bourbon

1 oz Noilly Pratt Dry Vermouth

.5 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth

11 drops Peychaud’s Bitters

Rinse of Laphroig

Glass: Coupe

Garnish: 5 drops Pine Liqueur

  Small Lemon Peel, light oil.

Ice:  None

Stir.  Strain.  Serve up.

Cheers,

Toby

←

Thanks a ton for the recipes, Toby; they both sound unique and delicious. In my imagination the anise in the Peychaud's and the pine are a fantastic combination. Do you use Zirbenz, or is your pine liqueur a proprietary house recipe?

[alacarte]

I think the Scotch Rinse is a fabulous concept. If the absinthe/Herbsaint rinse works for the Sazerac, why not other drinks?

[Alchemist]

I use the Zirbenz. But the Peach bitters in the Blue Ridge are house made. They have a hickory note, and are very different from the Fees.

Toby

[Chris Amirault]

Toby's being modest. They are infinitely better than the Fee's.

[phlip]

No one seems to have mentioned aromatics yet. I believe that is the most important part of using a rinse. Our first impression is seeing a drink, the second is smelling it, this is why I love rinses at times. Particularily very intense ingrediants such as peaty scotches and smokey mezcals. On another point this is a very good way to introduce people to such things without overwhelming them. One of which has been going out with great success recently is call the:

Cooper's Union

2 Red Breast

.5 St Germain

2 dash Orange bitters

Stir and serve Sazerac style employing a Laphroiag rinse instead of absinthe

Garnish with Lemon twist not dropped in

Cheers

[mkayahara]

I've been wondering about rinses in general for a while now. Does a rinse have a different effect on the resulting drink than, say, a dash would? I mean, once you pour the other ingredients in the glass, everything just mixes together anyway, right? Could you get a similar effect by spritzing the glass with an atomizer - or even spritzing the top of the cocktail, like you do with a twist?

[slkinsey]

Good point with respect to aromatics, Phil.

Does this mean, in your opinion/experience, that the drink should be served in a glass with a significant "collar" between the level of the drink and the rim of the glass? This strip of "rinsed glass" would presumably be where the extra aromas come from, yes? Otherwise, it seems that rinsing the glass is really just a way of getting a very small amount of the rinse ingredient into the drink. This thought has always informed my practice in making Sazeracs, which I like to serve in a glass large enough to have anm inch or two of exposed absinthe-rinsed glass above the level of the drink.

Another great way to aromatize a cocktail is with a float or a spritz onto the surface of the drink. The iteration of Sammy's Penecillin cocktail I tried at Flatiron a while back was spritzed with a heavy peat scotch.

[phlip]

Indeed Sam, Sazeracs are a perfect example, one must be able to get there nose in there or they might as well just add a dash.

[slkinsey]

Building on this idea, I think that a rinse and a collar makes more sense for most "up" cocktails than a spritz. Citrus oils float on the surface, whereas booze floated or spritzed on top of an "up" drink will mix into the other liquid.

When it is a rocks drink or an egg white drink or especially a crushed ice drink is when a float or spritz makes sense over a rinse.

[eje]

This might be obvious, but one point re: dash in cocktail vs. rinse is temperature of the aromatics.

With a chilled dash of whatever in a cocktail, you're really limiting the amount of aroma you're getting from that ingredient.

Where with a room temperature spritz or glass rinse, you are not chilling those aromatics to the same extent, so they can exist more as an out front aroma rather than an in the mouth aroma/taste.

[slkinsey]

Interesting thought, Eric. But this only matters if there's something for the rinse or spritz to "live on," wouldn't you think? Seems to me that a glass rinsed with scotch and then filled up all the way with cocktail wouldn't be any different from the same cocktail prepared with the same amount of scotch dashed in to the mixing glass.

Spritzes may be a little different, even in a full glass, because there is likely to be overspray that hits "dry" parts of the glass.

[eje]

Interesting thought, Eric.  But this only matters if there's something for the rinse or spritz to "live on," wouldn't you think?

[...]

←

Yep! Absolutely.

Thus your point below with leaving a collar above the drink for the scent to live on makes complete sense to me.

[thirtyoneknots]

Cooper's Union

2 Red Breast

.5 St Germain

2 dash Orange bitters

Stir and serve Sazerac style employing a Laphroiag rinse instead of absinthe

Garnish with Lemon twist not dropped in

Cheers

←

Boy that is a tasty drink. Made one last night for a regular, subbing Ardbeg for the Laphroaig, very well recieved. Unfortunately it was towards the end of the longest busiest night in recent memory and I forgot the orange bitters. It was still killer though.

[Dante]

Sammy's Penecillin cocktail

What an intriguing name! Can anyone tell me what this entails?

Sincerely,

Dante

[slkinsey]

Sigh... I spelled the name of the cocktail (and the antibiotic) incorrectly, of course.

The Penicillin Cocktail

Edited August 5, 2008 by slkinsey (log)

[Dante]

Sigh... I spelled the name of the cocktail (and the antibiotic) incorrectly, of course.

The Penicillin Cocktail

←

Mmmm...looks like fun.

And I think I have all of the ingredients at home right now.

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Dante