Recipe

• 2.5oz blended scotch (I used The Famous Grouse)
• .75oz sweet vermouth (I used La Cuesta)
• Couple dashes orange bitters
• Spritz of peaty scotch

Stir all ingredients with ice. Optionally, spritz a glass with some peaty Islay scotch. Express a fresh lemon peel over top.

About

Here’s the Rob Roy, a scotch&vermouth drink. I’m a big fan of drier (less sweet) drinks and as much as I enjoy my cocktails, most nights I’m just enjoying a dram of something neat. This one was definitely dry enough for my tastes and tasted like the scotch version of a martini (even though people refer to it as the scotch version of a Manhattan). I made the recipe from the PDT app (a must have!) and found it on the thin side, perhaps due to my choice of vermouth and bitters. However, it was very enjoyable and continued to grow on me as I drank. I will certainly be making this again, so let me know your favorite recipes/variants!

About the garnish…I used a weak lemon peel that was super dry and thin with no oils at first, before I came to my senses and found an oil-rich fresh(er) lemon. The oils made ALL the difference and completely transformed the drink. Oils are readily present in the peels of citrus fruits and is what makes citrus fruits so aromatic (I mean, I’m sure you’ve been in a room where someone is peeling an orange…the aroma fills the room!). Putting a citrus peel in a cocktail or rubbing it across the rim of the glass is not just for show, it’s basically an extra ingredient in a cocktail (think of it like adding salt/pepper in your food). When a fresh citrus peel is squeezed, you can visually see the oils spray out of the peel onto the top of your drink. When recreating a recipe that calls for a citrus peel ‘garnish,’ it’s certainly NOT optional (and neither is a weak ass thin dry peel).