Speak Low

I went to a big party in December, a potluck at a house I’d never been to before and didn’t know the crowd. But I figured nothing succeeds like liquor so I made up a batch of a room temp cocktail I’d spotted on Cocktail Virgin Slut, Creole Lady. It features Madeira, my favorite wine of that sort. As it happened, my hosts had invited someone else who felt the same way more than somewhat, and she was my best customer. What’s more, she started ordering Creole Lady all over town. Must’ve been the recipe and the Madeira I’d made it with, a Blandy’s 5-year Malmsey. I’ve used the same for this original cocktail as a foil for some apple brandy and a trace of smoky scotch—my favorite personal invention in a while. Sending this one out to the fellow party guest who likes Madeira.



Speak Low

• 2 oz Laird’s straight apple brandy
• 1 oz Madeira
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1/8 oz or scant tsp Ardbeg Single Malt
• 1 dash Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters
• tiny pinch sea salt

Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Last Will and Testament

A drink for summer’s end: green and gold notes, hints of spice and smoke. There are some finicky little measures, but it has several things that could easily overpower it so I’ve specified the amounts to keep it under control.



Last Will and Testament

• 2 oz gin (Tanqueray)
  
• 1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
• 1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
• 1/2 oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp Ardbeg single malt
• 1/4 tsp allspice dram
• 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

Laphroaig Rob Roy

The first Rob Roy I tasted was made by a bartender who had no idea what it was supposed to be like. I was served a weird, wimpy drink so vile that it took years to get over before trying another. (And that was lousy too.) Light blended scotch drowned in a sea of melting bar ice and thin, nasty vermouth, no bitters. You want a cherry with that? How about one of them little plastic stir jobbies?

For a cocktail as simple as this one, the base spirit should have enough guts to define the drink, and from the moment I saw gaz regan do the Laphroaig Rob Roy, I knew I had to have one. It just sounded right. There was smoke and velvet, anise and iodine. A wild, regal, intense Rob Roy that might wield the bagpipes as a deadly weapon. Aye.



Laphroaig Rob Roy

• 2 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Old
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• 4 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. I serve this with a broad, thin, rough-edged orange twist (sharp vegetable peeler), and express the oil lavishly over the drink. For the vermouth, I like Punt e Mes, though lately I’ve been doing it with Dolin.
SOURCE: ADAPTED FROM A RECIPE BY GAZ REGAN

For a kickass post on the same drink, visit The Sugar House Blog.

You can also see gaz himself in action on YouTube.

MxMo XLX: Brown, Bitter and Stirred

This Mixology Monday is hosted by Lindsey Johnson of Brown, Bitter and Stirred, and the name of her blog is also her theme. Would any of us here at the Fogged In Lounge know anything about brown booze and bitterness? Would we, ladies and gentlemen? Would the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune make us want now and then to climb down the neck of a Wild Turkey and not come out until Thanksgiving? Would some of us feel so buffeted by the Winds of War—or even Whoopie—that we might occasionally want to sip slowly on a glass of Zwack in which had steeped a bunch of rue and a couple of filthy pennies? Well, maybe not that bad. Life can’t be as bad as all that—right, ladies and gentlemen? Here—try this nice drink. It’s not half as bitter as all that.



The Brown Study

• 1 1/2 oz single malt Scotch
• 1/4 oz Averna
• 1/4 oz Campari
• 1/4 oz maraschino
• 4 dashes Regans’ No. 6 orange bitters

Stir gently with ice until the mixing glass frosts and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
SOURCE: ROWEN, FOGGED IN LOUNGE

For the malt, I happened to use the end of my Highland Park, though something with a little more iodine would be good too.

Dreamy Dorini Smoking Martini

The Dorini is the creation of Audrey Saunders, the Libation Goddess, and named in honor of a friend who loves whisky. I first heard of it from Gary Regan. It is not actually a Martini, though I’m not going to be too adamant about this because:

1. It is very, very good.
2. It is a dry, extremely grown-up cocktail analogous to a Martini.
3. I’m pretty sure Audrey wouldn’t beat me up, but don’t like to risk it.

In the photo below, the Dorini only fills about half the large cocktail glass I used, but the drink is so big in other ways that it seems right in a large glass. The Laphroaig single malt makes it huge. It’s said that Laphroaig is among the most intensely flavored of the malts. It’s also said that people who are unused to drinking Scotch should start with something mild. On the other hand, people who are unused to drinking Scotch might start with Laphroaig on the theory that if they can learn to handle that, they can drink anything.



Dreamy Dorini Smoking Martini

• 2 oz Grey Goose vodka (any good brand will work)
• 1/2 oz Laphroaig single malt whisky
• 2-3 drops Pernod
• lemon twist

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
SOURCE: ADAPTED BY GARY REGAN FROM A RECIPE BY AUDREY SAUNDERS