BY SAM ROSS
Smoke, ginger, honey, woodsy
Excellent with smoked trout and crème fraîche or at a harvest dinner.
The most internationally famous drink of the Craft Cocktail Movement, the Penicillin was created at Milk & Honey in New York when Sam Ross was behind the bar. It boasts a base of blended Scotch with an Islay float on top—providing a smokiness that conjoins magically with the honey ginger syrup for a layered effect. The lemon balances the drink, resulting in an eerily gentle cocktail that lingers. Ross is also the creator of the influential Paper Plane cocktail (page 165).
2 ounces (60 ml) Chivas 12 Scotch
¼ ounce (7 ml) Laphroaig 10-year Single Malt
¾ ounce (22 ml) fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce (22 ml) honey ginger syrup (page 242)
Candied ginger, for garnish
Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass with a single large ice cube. Garnish with candied ginger—insert two toothpicks, and slip them over the side of the rim.