Science Of Drink

Linstead Cocktail

40 ml scotch
40 ml sweetened pineapple juice
1 dash Pastis
Shake with ice and strain into cocktail glass. Zest with a lemon peel.

Hair of the Dog

40 ml blended scotch
20 ml cream
20 ml honey
Stir honey with whisky than add cream and a lot of ice and shake. Serve in a cocktail glass.

My today’s excursus is devoted to quite a novel thing – a modern and interesting cocktail – the Satin Manhattan. Yes, you are right – it is the Manhattan here over again. But there is no need to be bored as so far we have explored a mixology construction of the Manhattan and now we are going to plunge into Manhattan’s mood and atmosphere.

My feel of the Manhattan is undoubtedly something special. The Manhattan is a really worthy cocktail. It boasts a history stamped by wealth and luxury being born in an exclusive place – The Manhattan Club – haunted by high society members, politicians, judges and tycoons. The name Manhattan of a renowned borough in the heart of the Big Apple spells ”the rich and famous”. So no wonder it became a popular drink for successful, enterprising and ambitious people and, hence, the embodiment of pure urban chic. And not only, Manhattan was also a drink that was sipped on decks of luxury yachts, at brunches with Manhattan shared between notorious politicians and businessmen. Quite an implication!

As for me, the Manhattan is a cocktail for thorough relaxation. The Manhattan does not tolerate fuss or haste. Each glass of this drink possesses the inimitably posh taste and smell as its ingredients (American whiskey, vermouths and bitters) carry a whiff of Manhattan atmosphere. And it is for this fourth ingredient (the atmosphere) that I hold Manhattan so high.

Today’s Manhattan differs in composition from a regular Manhattan as Scotch is used instead of American whiskey and vanilla liqueur can substitute sweet vermouth. But do not rush to repudiate the naming till you taste it.

The story of Satin Manhattan is so clear and known. The cocktail was created by a famous bartender, the King of the Cocktails – Dale Degroff in early 2000s. I had found a recipe of the Satin Manhattan at Cocktailtimes website about four or five years ago and it was named as Satin Manhattan (but now it is named as Scotch Cooler). Now I have picked up Meukow VS Vanilla (a vanilla cognac liqueur. Actually, Coctailtimes had suggested another liqueur, if I am not mistaken, it was Navan Vanilla, but it is out of reach in Ukraine now) and I decide to try the Satin Manhattan also known as the Scotch Cooler.

Satin Manhattan (aka Scotch Cooler)

45 ml Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky
15 ml vanilla liqueur (Meukow VS Vanilla)
1 dash Angostura bitters
Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with a lot of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

You should add the Angostura very carefully. Actually, one superfluous drop will ruin the cocktail. Angostura bitters in the Satin Manhattan is like salt in a dish – you should not overdo it. Thus use only a few little drops of bitters in the Satin Manhattan.

Definitely, the Satin Manhattan in that performing is an awesome cocktail with splendid look, stunning nose and, of course, it is extremely delicious. The color of the cocktail is quite amazing, it has deep coppery color. Next – the smell. The Satin Manhattan has a rich and magnificent scent with a lot of different notes. The main notes are vanilla bean and a fruit aroma of Speyside scotch. The nose has many luxurious notes – tobacco, an expensive cigar, cacao, leather, incense and a whiff of a burning fireplace. Brilliant nose! Admittedly it is one of the best noses I have ever had. Then – the taste. The entry is rather dry and light. The palate is surprisingly dynamic – fruit and floral notes of whisky change into deep sweet notes of vanilla bean, toffee, brown spices and candied and dried fruits. The aftertaste is long with main notes of vanilla. It is a very pleasant libation, pure delight and relaxation. Certainly, the Satin Manhattan’s taste is rather different from the original Manhattan. It is not so herbal, and it has a lot of scotch in the palate, but it is in style. I mean, the Satin Manhattan has the Manhattan’s mood. It is a luxurious, powerful and interesting cocktail. It possesses some chic. The Satin Manhattan is like a costly black tie fragrance – rich and luxurious. In this case, I think, I must not repudiate the name.

As it often happens, after tasting and describing the Satin Manhattan with a vanilla liqueur, I accidentally found an original recipe :) It turns out, Dale DeGroff originally used not vanilla liqueur, but Cuarenta Y Tres (Liquor 43) – an interesting Spanish liqueur. Well, I should try it!

Satin Manhattan (original)

45 ml Chivas Regal scotch
15 ml Liquor 43
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Add all the ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice and stir. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with an orange peel.

Actually Cuarenta Y Tres (Liquor 43) is something of vanilla liqueur. It has a rather complex composition (43 ingredients, hence the name) on base of Mediterranean spices, herbs and fruits. The main palate is citrus fruit and warm spices, mainly vanilla.

The cocktail is the epitome of scotch. Whisky prevails in the flavor and palate. Supported with Licor 43 a most famous creation of Chivas Brothers demonstrates a lot of fruit and floral flavor with a hint of honey. The ‘Original’ Satin Manhattan has the light and rather sweet entry, the smooth fruit and floral palate and pleasant finish with a hint of vanilla and a whiff of scotch smokiness. The aftertaste is so long and balanced.

It is worth noting here, I have liked the cocktail, but not enough for me to call it the Manhattan :) C’est la vie!

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Well, I feel like putting aside for a while my Manhattan project because some new creative horizons opened before me with the arrival of some samples of whisky which I got from the Master of Malt – a British whisky retailer with 25 year experience and world-wide reputation. Some time ago they launched an impressive marketing service called Drinks by the Dram. This innovation gave whisky lovers also neophyte alike the opportunity to order and taste 30 ml (about 1 fl. oz) samples of they brilliant stuff – wide range of whisky, whiskey and other interesting spirits. Another remarkable idea – the Master of Malt develop wide range topical dram sets which help us to taste many great whisky from different regions. The dram sets are an invaluable present for anyone who has a crush on whisky.

Now, I have received the so pretty box:

In the box I have found three little wax-sealed bottles with whisky:

You can imagine how exhilarated I was to get the parcel with sample. The Master of Malt gave me a chance to taste three dram of whisky – two Single Malt Whisky (Laphroaig Quarter Cask и Glengoyne 10 Years Old) and one bourbon (Johny Drum Black Label). Usually I write reviews of different spirits in my Encyclopedia of liquor, and it is not an exception. My full reviews of them coming soon!

My today’s post is devoted to quite an interesting cocktail which I had been dallying with for quite a long time before I got a proper whisky. I mean Smoky Martini – a curious variation of Dry Martini with scotch instead of traditional vermouth. The snag is that we should use smoky or peated scotch (like Isle Mist or one of famous single malts such as Laphroaig, Lagavulin or the like).

And now I will make a short digression to make a confession that my fascination with whisky is of theoretical nature. It is the cocktail that I am totally, irresistibly and unconditionally in love with. As regards whiskies, I like exploring them as potential ingredients. Besides single malts cost a pretty penny. There is yet another, romantic side to this interest of mine, a sort of ‘my heart’s in the Highlands…’, you know. I fell under the spell of the austere beauty of the wind-swept islands on which a long- standing tradition of distilling whisky has been passed from a generation to generation. Like anything in this world that boasts centuries long tradition whisky has a magnetic pull for me.

And now let me go back and continue the main thread of our discussion. Now that I got a sample of great inimitably flavoured Laphroaig Quarter Cask did I decide to try a variation of the Smoky Martini, a well- known variation of the Dry Martini cocktail which began its life in the eighties of last century. That was the beginning of cocktail renaissance when Martini-mania was in full swing. Incidentally, a creator of the drink remains unknown. An idea of switching dry vermouth with scotch seems fruitful and by far and large it is more palatable than a glass of icy gin. I use the recipe which I borrowed from the Dale DeGroff`s book The Craft of the Cocktail:

Smoky Martini

50 ml gin
10 ml scotch (Laphroaig Quarter Cask)
Stir all ingredients with a lot of ice. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist.

It is worth mentioning here that Laphroaig is not an expendable ingredient for Smoky Martini. The original recipe calls for blended scotch and you may use it.

I have tried the Smoky Martini with different gin and whisky. My first Smoky Martini was mixed with Bombay Sapphire London Dry Gin and Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Wow! Really I was fascinated by the cocktail! The Smoky Martini has extraordinary dry and smoky taste. The entry is very smooth and oily. The palate is brilliant dry with a great explosion at the end. The finish had a lot of smoke, peat and a campfire smell. Actually the Smoky Martini is one of best variations of Dry Martini that I ever tasted.

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The summer is gone. We have very bad cold and rainy weather. I caught a cold and need a remedy. It is unique chance to test a hot cocktails!

One of the oldest hot mixed drinks is Blue Blazer. The Blue Blazer cocktail was created by famous Jerry “Professor” Thomas at the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco circa 1850 for a lucky prospector. Jerry Thomas also created hard and dangerous ritual of preparation of this hot drink.

Authentic ingredients of the Blue Blazer are Scotch whisky and boiling water. Also you may sweet your cocktail with some sugar or clear honey. The drink garnished with lemon peel. Some barmans use another kind of spirits – rye, bourbon or Irish whiskey or their mixes, some barmans prepare Blue Blazer with brandy or rum, or add some lemon juice, or garnished with grated nutmeg or cinnamon stick.

My first Blue Blazer was prepared with blended Scotch whisky – Isle of Skye 8 y.o. This blend has so rich and peated flavor and taste.

Blue Blazer

100 ml whisky
100 ml boiling water
1 or 2 tsp. sugar or clear honey
Put sugar or honey into a London dock glass (or Irish-coffee glass). Heat two silver Blue Blazer Mugs using hot water. Pour the boiling water in one mug and warmed whisky into the other. Ignite the scotch (be carefull!) and pour the flaming scotch into the mug with water, then back into now-empty mug. Repeat this trick 4-5 times. Then pour mixtire into London dock glass and garnish with lemon twist.

The Blue Blazer Cocktail is realy pyrotechnic showpiece. This drink has nice warm effect and it is ideal for cold and damp weather.

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