With colder times approaching (yes, winter is coming), you’ll be reaching for the whisky a little more. Your drinks will perhaps get a little shorter; the alcohol content, too, will get a little stronger. And these months lend themselves very nicely to blended whisky drinks — check out four you need to know below.
Blood & Sand
20ml Gordon Graham Black Bottle Whisky
20ml Cherry Heering
20ml sweet vermouth
20ml orange juice
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
There are two types of people: those who mix with orange juice, and those who think it’s an abomination, a needless injection of vitamin C into your glass. Well, everything in moderation we say, and the Blood and Sand is the very picture of measured moderation.
Named for a movie (based on a book) called Blood and Sand, which kickstarted a whole genre of bullfighting, you want to make sure you’ve got some acid in the oranges you use: to rounded and sweet and the drink will be worse for it. Using a whisky like the Black Bottle will add a light smokiness to the mix.
Mamie Taylor
60ml Cutty Sark Blended Scotch whisky
20ml lime juice
Ginger beer to top
Add your Scotch and lime juice to a highball glass. Add ice and fill with ginger beer. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Mamie Taylor is not a name you’re likely to forget. But forget it we bartenders did. Taylor was a popular operatic singer and actor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the US. It was a popular naming convention at the time to name drinks after stage plays, actors and singers with Mamie being no exception. The drink that bears her name is a tall refreshing blend of Scotch whisky, lime juice and ginger beer.
Cameron’s Kick
30ml Chivas Regal 12
30ml Redbreast 12 Years
20ml lemon juice
15ml orgeat
Shake briskly and double strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
It goes to show that Harry Craddock and the barkeeps who preceded him at London’s Savoy Hotel could still teach us a thing or two. You see The Cameron’s Kick implausibly combines both Irish and Scotch whisk(e)y, and it does this admirably. Combined with lemon and orgeat the scotch provides dryness and plenty of back bone with a lightness and sweetness being provided by the Irish.
Rob Roy
40ml Dewars 12
20ml sweet vermouth
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Stir down and serve up.
Ah, the Rob Roy. This is a drink every bartender should know, and that’s because every bartender should know how to make a Manhattan. The Rob Roy is a simple variation on your classic Manhattan: you switch out the rye whiskey for some Scotch from “across the pond”.
Chivas Regal 12
Chivas Regal is a blend of different malt and grain whiskies, offering up a distinctive, rich and creamy palate of herbs, and bright fruit along with a gentle honey note. Pernod Ricard
Gordon Graham Black Bottle Whisky
Gordon Graham Black Bottle Whisky is a premium blended whisky that features Islay whisky at its heart.They use a number of Islay whiskies in the blend, as well as other malt and grain whiskies from throughout Scotland. Island2Island
Cutty Sark
A golden colour, the nose offers up aromas of citrus and vanilla. This follows through to the balanced palate, with caramel and vanilla featuring, leading to a smooth, long finish. Suntory
Dewars 12 Year Old
Dewars uses a process called double-aging, in which they return their blended whisky to butts to marry. Dewars 12 has a distinctive honeyed, fruity character, and a smooth, luxurious finish.Bacardi Lion