Old Fashioned, but with Scotch instead of bourbon. Smokier, drier, the upgrade for whisky drinkers who have decided to grow up tonight.
Why you are pouring this tonight
The Scotch Old Fashioned is the cocktail you order at the kind of hotel bar where the bartender does not ask you what music you want playing, because the music is already correct. The drink is the same template as a Bourbon Old Fashioned: spirit, sugar, bitters, ice, citrus peel. The only thing that changes is the spirit. But the spirit changes everything. Scotch brings smoke, dryness, a slightly austere quality that bourbon does not have. The drink becomes more grown-up. It also becomes harder to drink fast, which is sometimes the entire point.
The Scotch you use matters more than usual. A peated single malt (Laphroaig 10 at $90, Lagavulin 16 at $130) makes a Scotch Old Fashioned that tastes like a campfire that has read Moby Dick. Magnificent if that is what you want; appalling if you wandered into it expecting a regular Old Fashioned. A blended Scotch (Monkey Shoulder at $55, Johnnie Walker Black at $80) is the safer everyday move; it has enough character to differentiate the drink from bourbon without the smoke smacking you in the face. Pick based on mood. If you have eaten a steak, peated. If you are easing into a Friday, blended.
The sugar matters too. Use demerara, not white. Demerara has a molasses note that integrates with the Scotch in a way refined sugar does not. A single demerara cube, muddled with three dashes of Angostura and a teaspoon of water until it dissolves. Then the Scotch (60ml). Then a single large clear ice cube. Stir for thirty seconds. Express a wide orange peel over the surface, drop it in. The drink should be cold enough that the glass complains. It should also be the colour of an evening you remember.
What to pour it alongside
Before dinner, with a piece of aged hard cheese (Pyengana cheddar, parmigiano reggiano), or after dinner alongside a square of dark chocolate (anything 70%+, Loving Earth or Lindt). The Scotch wants something with structural character to push back against. Avoid pairing with anything sweet (the drink is dry and you will distort the balance) or anything fish (the smoke will eat the fish). The drink also pairs surprisingly well with smoked almonds and a bowl of plain pretzels, which is the same flavour conversation in three different textures.
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Notes from the kitchen
Stir, do not shake. Shaking aerates the drink and dilutes it too fast. Stirring with a long bar spoon over hard ice for thirty seconds gets the dilution exactly right and keeps the drink visually clear. The drink should look like glass with a slight amber tint, not cloudy. If it looks cloudy, you stirred too long or your ice was too small.
The orange peel is the trick. Take a wide strip with a vegetable peeler, no white pith. Hold it shiny side down over the drink, two centimetres above the surface, and bend it sharply in half. The oils will spray across the top of the drink in a fine mist; you will smell the orange immediately. Then drop the peel in. Skipping this step gives you a drink that is technically correct but missing its top note. The express is half the drink.
Two things that go wrong
Drink is too sweet and tastes flat
You used too much sugar (one cube is plenty), or the sugar did not fully dissolve before you added the Scotch. Add a teaspoon of warm water and stir again until the sugar dissolves; this is what the bitters are for, to balance the sugar. If still too sweet, add another dash of Angostura.
Drink is harsh and the Scotch tastes raw
Not enough dilution. Stir for another 15 seconds with the same ice cube. The Scotch needs water to open up; the cocktail is roughly 25% dilution by the time it is drinkable. If you are using a peated Scotch and the smoke is overwhelming, switch to a blended for the next round.
Variations worth knowing
Smoky peated version
Use a Laphroaig 10 or Ardbeg 10. The drink becomes a campfire in a glass. Pair with smoked meats, blue cheese, dark chocolate. The drink for the friend who has decided to take cocktails seriously this year.
Honey Scotch Old Fashioned
Replace the demerara sugar with a teaspoon of warm honey syrup (one part honey, one part hot water). Use a Dewar’s 12 or Monkey Shoulder. Rounder, sweeter, the entry-level Scotch cocktail.
Smoked-rosemary Scotch Old Fashioned
Make as standard. Light a sprig of rosemary with a kitchen torch until smouldering, place under an upturned glass for 30 seconds to capture the smoke. Right the glass, pour the cocktail in. Aromatic theatre, takes ten extra seconds, looks like you know what you are doing.
Leftovers and make ahead
There are no leftovers. If there are, you have made too many. The Scotch Old Fashioned is a single-serve drink, built fresh for each pour. The orange peel garnish, however, can be made in advance: peel four wide strips, store in a small airtight container in the fridge for up to two days, and the oils will still be active when you express them. Beyond two days, the peel dries and loses its top note.
If you have batched a single jug for a dinner party (60ml Scotch x guests, 1 tsp demerara syrup x guests, 3 dashes bitters x guests, no water), keep it at room temperature, stir well, pour over ice when serving. Express a fresh peel over each pour. The drink keeps for up to 48 hours in this state, though it will mellow slightly.
The recipe
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