As today is National Cocktail Day, lots of us will be reaching for our home bars to try out something new. That could be working with a new spirit or an unusual liqueur — or even digging in the garden for some fresh herbs to add to a mixing glass. But there’s one spirit which plenty of people enjoy drinking but rarely mix with, and that’s Scotch.
Scotch is most often enjoyed neat, and it used to be the case that even thinking about mixing with it was considering wasteful and unsophisticated. But that time has passed, and now plenty of bartenders and experts are interested in what this powerful, smokey whisky style can add to a cocktail.
And if you look back at history, there’s plenty of precedent for this approach. According to spirits writer Noah Rothbaum: “While many drinkers have long considered it a sin to add even a single cube of ice or a tiny splash of water to a glass of Scotch, in the nineteenth century when the whisky rose to prominence it was actually often enjoyed in mixed drinks, so the current trend of Scotch and single malt-based cocktails has authentic ties to the spirit’s earliest days.”
So don’t be afraid of mixing with Scotch — and these recipes from bartenders using blended Scotches from the brand Compass Box Scotch Whisky show you how.
Blood, Sweat & Whiskey
By bartender Eric Hausser of Beatnick on the River, Chicago
Ingredients:
- 1.25oz Compass Box Glasgow Blend
- .75oz Bordiga Maraschino
- .5oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
- 1.5oz Acid-Adjusted Blood Orange Puree
- 2-3 sprays Peat Monster
Call Me Sambaldy
By Zachary Churbock of Bandista at the Four Seasons Houston
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Compass Box Orchard House
- 1.25 oz Fassionola syrup
- .75 oz Lemon juice
- .25 Pomp & whimsy
- 3 dash Peychaud’s Bitters
