Scotch Cocktails

[tsg20]

I've had a couple of Bobbie Burns in bars in recent weeks, and I'd like to make some at home. Any suggestions of a cheapish Scotch for mixing?

[KD1191]

I've had a couple of Bobbie Burns in bars in recent weeks, and I'd like to make some at home. Any suggestions of a cheapish Scotch for mixing?

I don't mix with single malts often, but do like the Balvenie 12 (Doublewood) in Rob Roy-ish drinks, which I'd say includes the Bobbie Burns. It should run you around $40 in most places.

[vice]

I've had a couple of Bobbie Burns in bars in recent weeks, and I'd like to make some at home. Any suggestions of a cheapish Scotch for mixing?

I don't mix with single malts often, but do like the Balvenie 12 (Doublewood) in Rob Roy-ish drinks, which I'd say includes the Bobbie Burns. It should run you around $40 in most places.

Or for a blended whisky, you'll find a lot of support around here for Famous Grouse .

[thirtyoneknots]

Balvenie Doublewood is divine but in most cases a blend will suit better for cocktails. In addition to the venerable Famous Grous that vice mentioned, White Horse is another good choice for a blend, as is Dewars and JW Red. For a nice everyday sipper that can also be fun (and relatively affordable) to make the occasional cocktail with, hard to go wrong with Balmore Legend (about $26 locally after going up last year). Makes a great hot toddy as well.

[vice]

I know I'm not the only one here who feels this way, but I like having a couple scotches on hand to suit various needs. For everyday use or when experimenting with new cocktails, I'll go with a less spendy blended offering. But then there are the days when you want to spoil yourself. On such days, a Rob Roy with Macallan cask strength, for example, just sits you down in your seat and makes you forget everything else. The option for occasional luxury is a damn good thing.

[shantytownbrown]

I've had a couple of Bobbie Burns in bars in recent weeks, and I'd like to make some at home. Any suggestions of a cheapish Scotch for mixing?

I don't mix with single malts often, but do like the Balvenie 12 (Doublewood) in Rob Roy-ish drinks, which I'd say includes the Bobbie Burns. It should run you around $40 in most places.

Or for a blended whisky, you'll find a lot of support around here for Famous Grouse .

I'll say that my experience with the Grouse in the Bobbie Burns and the Rob yoy this week , with Carpano Antica as the vermouth have been nothing short of sublime...

Havent been able to fine White Horse, will need to look for Balmore Legend to try..

[thirtyoneknots]

Havent been able to fine White Horse, will need to look for Balmore Legend to try..

For some reason, at least in Texas, White Horse is very hard to find in bottles smaller than 1.75L; I've seen it maybe 3 times and only in very out of the way places. In the large bottle it is more or less ubiquitous around here, which is very peculiar to me.

In general it has much more of a smoke and malt character and less fruit than Famous Grouse, almost more like a Highland Malt character to the Grouse's Speyside-esque profile (if comparisons like that aren't taboo). Tasty but very different.

Balmore Legend, being an Islay single malt has much more smoke but it is fairly tame compared to something like Laphroaig. Makes a divine Rusty Nail.

[shantytownbrown]

makes me wonder if anyone has experimented with using proportions of various single malts to sub for the standard blends available...wonder if anyone has found a good balance of flavors with their own "blend"

sb

[brinza]

White Horse is another good choice for a blend,

I'll second the mention of White Horse. A great mixing Scotch for well under $20. I like it because it has just enough oompf to not get lost in a cocktail with other strong flavors.

[thirtyoneknots]

White Horse is another good choice for a blend,

I'll second the mention of White Horse. A great mixing Scotch for well under $20. I like it because it has just enough oompf to not get lost in a cocktail with other strong flavors.

Yeah it does seem more "Scotchy" (with apologies to Ron Burgundy) than other popular blends such as Famous Grouse or Johnny Walker and perhaps less complex. When drinking White Horse I often sort of feel like if you took any aspect of its character away it would no longer really be recognizeable as Scotch, which while making for a somewhat unexciting rocks sipper, makes it ideal in many cocktail situations.

[db_campbell]

When drinking White Horse I often sort of feel like if you took any aspect of its character away it would no longer really be recognizeable as Scotch, which while making for a somewhat unexciting rocks sipper, makes it ideal in many cocktail situations.

The issue with White Horse for me, is that drinking it neat has caused me to never want to try it in a cocktail. I've found a 1:1 vatting of Teacher's and Glen Salen blended malt to be a fine everyday type cocktail base, though both are lacking in sherry & peat. If I'm feeling the former, I'll spring for using a sherried Speyside malt (usually 12 yr; Glenfarclas is typically both useful and relatively inexpensive). If the latter, I try to have a vatting on hand that utilises a large proportion of McClelland's Single Malt Islay, which one can generally find for <$20 and is essentially a very young (4 or 6 yr I believe) Bowmore.

[Blether]

The issue with White Horse for me, is that drinking it neat has caused me to never want to try it in a cocktail...

Because you find White Horse so wonderful ? Could you elaborate on that, please ?

[db_campbell]

The issue with White Horse for me, is that drinking it neat has caused me to never want to try it in a cocktail...

Because you find White Horse so wonderful ? Could you elaborate on that, please ?

Actually, the opposite; I can't find in it a focused flavour that I would describe as pleasurable. The menagerie of flavour notes, to me at least, come off as more a ragged harshness, rather than a complex whole. Perhaps it is the unwitting victim of undue expectations on my part, having read the back label before purchase and noting that whisky from Talisker, Lagavulin & Linkwood are in the blend. Given that provenance, I feel as if I should like it, but simply can't force myself to, despite heartened efforts.

[Blether]

... more a ragged harshness...

Perhaps it's intentionally designed to encourage the drinker beyond the point where taste matters.

[Chris Amirault]

I was at No. 9 Park last week, and Ted made me a Scotland the Brave, which I thought was a big, brash keeper:

2 1/2 (not a typo) oz Talisker

3/4 oz Fernet Branca

3/4 oz Cinzano rosso

1/2 oz Mathilde Orange XO

[Alcuin]

I was at No. 9 Park last week, and Ted made me a Scotland the Brave, which I thought was a big, brash keeper:

2 1/2 (not a typo) oz Talisker

3/4 oz Fernet Branca

3/4 oz Cinzano rosso

1/2 oz Mathilde Orange XO

That's a huge drink, but I might have to give it a shot. I'll have to sub CAF for the Cinzano though. Do you think Cinzano's essential to the drink?

[Chris Amirault]

It's interesting you asked that, bc he and I talked about the exact same thing (and I learned that they're selling CAF at Brix in Boston, btw). He can't keep the CAF on the shelf, but I got the sense he'd like to do so for this drink, yeah.

[vice]

Has anyone played around with brandy/orange liqueur combinations to recreate the Mathilde?

[Chris Amirault]

I'm enjoying a Hoots Mon (or a Hoots Mon Cocktail -- I never know when to add or drop the suffix) and wondering why I've never made one before. I have all the ingredients on hand regularly:

1 1/2 oz scotch (Asyla)

3/4 oz Lillet blanc

3/4 oz sweet vermouth (Punt e Mes)

Lillet now lacks the bitterness of Kina Lillet, of course, so I thought that the Punt e Mes would work better than Martini & Rossi rosso: good call.

[MikeInSacto]

We were served a complimentary "Laphroiag Project" at the Shady Lady here in Sacto. The bartender there mentioned that it came from Bourbon and Branch and according to their blog, it's as follows:

1 oz Green Chartreuse

.5 oz Laphroaig Quarter Cask

.5 oz Luxardo Maraschino

.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse

1 oz fresh lemon juice

2 dashes Fee's Peach Bitters

Combine all ingredients into mixing tin and shake vigorously. Double-strain over the rocks into a double old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I'm not a huge fan of Laphroaig but this was very good.

[EvergreenDan]

Tried this wonder that I found on Cocktail Virgin Slut:

Alto Cucina

1 oz Scotch (Balvenie 15)

1 oz Dry Vermouth

1/2 oz St. Germain Liqueur

1/2 oz Cynar

Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass Garnish with an orange twist.

I made it with Balvenie 12 and Dolin. Very good. Nice intro for non-Scotch-drinkers. It would benefit from a higher proof Scotch (as it's written above), but I didn't have any on hand, other than Islay. The unwelcome sugar from the St Germain creeps in, without any acid to balance it, but it's not particularly sweet. Still, I'd prefer it without the candy.

Edited February 26, 2010 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Brad]

This topic got me perusing through CocktailDB, as I really don't make Scotch cocktails very often. I came across a couple I thought were interesting:

Alice (http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=2600)

.75 oz Scotch

.75 oz Kummel

.75 oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass

and

Oh! Henry (http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=4484)

1 oz Scotch

1 oz Benedictine

1 oz Ginger Ale

Mix and serve in a cocktail glass

I haven't actually tried either yet, but they work ok in my head. That being said, make and consume at your own risk.

[mhagglund]

I've had a lot of people enjoy this one lately.

Maple Loch

2 oz Ardbeg 10 yr

3/4 oz Nux Alpina

1/2 oz Blis bourbon aged maple syrup

1/2 oz lemon juice

2 dashes hop bitters

Shaken hard, served with an amarena cherry.

[brinza]

This topic got me perusing through CocktailDB, as I really don't make Scotch cocktails very often. I came across a couple I thought were interesting:

Alice (http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=2600)

.75 oz Scotch

.75 oz Kummel

.75 oz Sweet Vermouth

Stir and strain into a cocktail glass

and

Oh! Henry (http://www.cocktaildb.com/recipe_detail?id=4484)

1 oz Scotch

1 oz Benedictine

1 oz Ginger Ale

Mix and serve in a cocktail glass

I haven't actually tried either yet, but they work ok in my head. That being said, make and consume at your own risk.

The Oh! Henry is one of my favorites. Simple combination--seems almost too obvious, but it works. I can't recall if I've ever made the Alice, but it seems like it should be good.

The Hoots Mon that Chris mentioned is another one I can definitely vouch for as well.

Edited February 26, 2010 by brinza (log)

[Nathan]

I was at No. 9 Park last week, and Ted made me a Scotland the Brave, which I thought was a big, brash keeper:

2 1/2 (not a typo) oz Talisker

3/4 oz Fernet Branca

3/4 oz Cinzano rosso

1/2 oz Mathilde Orange XO

now that looks terrific and very much up my alley!