Penicillin

1 2⁄3 oz Blended Scotch (Compass Box Asyla)
2⁄3 oz Lemon juice
2 t Honey syrup (3:1 with hot water)
2 t Ginger juice (sweetened 4:3 with white sugar)
2 t Islay Scotch (Compass Box Peat Monster, as float)
Instructions

Shake, strain, float. Garnish with a slice of either fresh or candied ginger on a pick

Cocktail summary
Posted by Jaxon on
Created by
Sam Ross, Milk and Honey
Year
2005
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

http://www.shakeandstrainblog.com/?p=3080

Curator
5 stars
Average
5 stars
(40 ratings)
YieldsDrink
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From other users
  • One of my wife and I's favorites. Slightly smokey, slightly sweet, slightly spicy, delicious balance. — ★★★★★
  • JWred / Laphroaig 10 Ratio: 2.0 JW, 1.5 Laph; Muddle ginger and some sugar cane; 1.0 Lemon, 1.5 1:1 honey syrup, 2 dash bitters -- all shaken Serve rocks
  • Delicious! A true classic. If you have access to Pratt Standard Ginger Syrup, it makes a delicous one: I do 1.75 dewars, .5 Laphroaig 10, 1oz lemon, .5 honey syrup. Rub glass w/fresh ginger. — ★★★★★
  • This is different than the recipe I use
  • Had this one (expertly constructed) at Star Bar in Tokyo. Extremely balanced!
  • Used 1/2 oz ginger syrup and 1/4 oz straight honey. Floated the Islay. The burn of the ginger and the subtle smoke of the floated Scotch work together in interesting ways.
  • Very good. Used honey and King's Ginger with Balvenie. Even Robin liked it. — ★★★★
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Comments
Dan commented on 11/01/2012:

Very nice cocktail, and surprisingly accessible for the non-Scotch lover. I also made a version with Anejo Tequila and Mezcal -- very nice.

cibyr commented on 2/15/2013:

More sour/less sweet than I expected. Planning to try with less lemon juice, maybe some simple syrup.

Dan, I've made one with Mezcal, I was thinking of putting it up but would take it down if it's too similar, is yours posted? If so, under what name, and if not, would you mind putting the build?

It must be said that the sweetener spec in the original is a bit different, and this is crucial for making this drink as it was intended to be. It's supposed to be a sweetened ginger juice and honey syrup(3:1 honey to water) combined in equal parts(3/8 oz of each) to make a 3/4 oz of sweet. The sweetened ginger juice is 4 parts fresh ginger juice to 3 parts granulated white sugar, stirred to make a syrup. The Islay scotch shall be used as a float on top to give a smoky nose and should not be shaken with the rest of the ingredients. The idea is to give the impression of a smoky drink, but when you sip it it's actually more mellow.

Fransos,

Do you have a source for that? If so, I can rewrite the drink, but considering it's a major shift, I'd like to be able to link to something.

Thanks,

Zachary

The source you can use is Sam Ross' Bartender's Choice app. I know that the recipe in the app calls for shaking all ingredients, including the Islay scotch, but I've had this drink at Milk&Honey and they definitely use it as a float. It's also garnished with a candied or fresh piece of ginger. Thanks!

I second the comments stated by, "Fransos".

3/8 oz. Honey Syrup

3/8 oz Sweetened Ginger Juice

(not 3/4 oz Ginger-Honey Syrup)

Created, 2005

(As per Sam's, "Bartender's Choice" App.)

*this needs curation*

I curated this per the link, which has Sam Ross making the drink and explaining the ingredients. There are a lot recipes floating around the internet for this, most of which simplify the ginger part of the sweetener, or sub different Scotches, but I figure that if we have a video of the creator of the drink, that should be the canonical recipe.  Thanks,  Zachary

I realize I'm really late to this thread, but in the linked video from Sam Ross he says 3/4 oz of fresh lemon juice, and 3/8 oz each of honey syrup (3:1 honey:water) and ginger syrup (1:1 ginger juice:granulated sugar). In the video he doesn't specify the ginger juice ratio, but everything else aligns with the entry in "Regarding Cocktails" from Sasha Petraske, so I think 1:1 makes the most sense for the ginger. Also in that source he (Sam Ross) calls for 2 oz of blended Scotch, with a "splash" of Islay whiskey as the float. I usually use 1/4 oz (which is about 1 1/2 teaspoons). And although the video shows a slice of fresh ginger, I think it's interesting that Sam says candied ginger is the preferred garnish.

Used the serious eats version with good results. Muddle 3 slices fresh ginger. 2 oz blended scotch, 3/4 50:50 honey syrup, 3/4 lemon. Shake, double strain, 1/4 Islay float. I’d like to make the original with sweetened ginger juice soon, but this version is easy to whip up if you have fresh ginger on hand.