We’ve hit quite a few classic American Whiskey cocktails already, so I thought it would be nice if we turned our cocktail shakers towards classic Scotch cocktails for a bit and nothing is more classic than the Rob Roy. Created in 1894 at the Waldorf Astoria in NYC as a tribute to an opera of the same name, this cocktail is essentially a Manhattan made with Scotch instead of bourbon or rye.
It might sound weird to change the name just because we changed the base spirit, but it’s quite common in the cocktail world. The Negroni is a perfect example of this. Your classic Negroni has a base spirit of gin, but if you swap it out for bourbon it’s called a Boulevardier, tequila morphs it into a La Rosita and a Scotch Negroni goes by the name of… the Scotch Negroni. No one ever said drinkers were consistent.
Yes, there are some modern-classic “Scotch Negroni” recipes like The Drunk Uncle, but they often exclude one, or both, of the traditional accompanying ingredients: Campari and sweet vermouth. Anyways, my point is it’s quite common to change the name, but have virtually the same recipe when you change the base spirit. Especially in ye olden days.
Rob Roy Cocktail
Equipment
- 1 Strainer
Ingredients
- 2 oz Scotch
- .75 oz Red Vermouth
- 2-3 dashes Angostura Bitters
- 1 Brandied Cherry
Instructions
- Place the cocktail glass in the freezer
- Add ice and all ingredients, except cherry, to the mixing glass
- Stir for 20-30 seconds till chilled and diluted
- Retrieve the chilled cocktail glass
- Strain cocktail into the glass
- Garnish with cherry
- Enjoy!
