Readers, we've been into watching Mad Men this t.v. season. We're always looking for good excuses to mix up a little something, and the swingin' art deco aesthetics & general doom-n-gloom feel of the show are good reasons to "tie one on," as they say. This clearly calls for some ritualistic cocktail drinking, and a new favorite teevee story show means we're in the market for a new thematic concoction. So, since there's been a trend of scotch imbibing here at HQ lately--which has never really been our poison of choice, but has been growing on us--I decided to give the Blood and Sand a try.
My pal Andy over at South Twelfth has been promoting the B&S for quite some time, so I credit him with my awareness of it. It's pretty much the only scotch-related mixed drink I've ever heard of (although a quick web search suggests many more), Andy has certainly advocated it, and I actually had nearly all the ingredients on-hand. So after a quick cherry brandy-procuring field trip I decided to do a (wet) dry run before tonight's episode airs.
Here's the recipe I used for the first trial:
- 1&1/2 oz blended scotch whiskey
- 1/3 oz orange juice
- 1/3 oz cherry brandy
- 1/3 oz sweet vermouth
- orange peel for garnish
I combined all ingredients (except the peel) with ice in a shaker (well, I used a sports bottle b/c my shaker is in the shop), I shook gently to combine, then strained into two brandy glasses & added the orange peel.
Verdict? The first sip was...strange. I wasn't expecting the scotch taste to be as prominent as it was (although the recipe I used specified twice the amount of scotch as the other ingredients so it didn't get overpowered by all the sweet stuff going on...), but after the 3rd or 4th sip I totally got it. There's a nice compromise between peaty and sweet, and the more I drank (as with so many cocktails) the more I enjoyed. It's not my favorite by any means--I'm still, foremost, a bourbon woman--but it mitigates a lot of what I didn't like about scotch in the first place.
It has the added impact of being unexpected (scotch? in a mixed drink??), and it's certainly better than it has to be. Going by my experience the name should be "Sand and Blood" (based on what you taste first), but I guess that's just quibbling--besides, that would ruin the reference to the Valentino movie. Altogether, I call this a win, and so will be sipping one (or three) during tonight's episode. Cheers!
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