Bitterscotch
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- Notes
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Ingredients
Yield:1 drink
- 1½ounces Scotch
- 1ounce blanc vermouth
- ¾ounce amaro
- ½ounce fresh lemon juice
- Ice
- Lemon peel, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a shaker, combine the scotch, blanc vermouth, amaro and lemon juice. Add ice, cover and shake vigorously until the drink is well chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Holding a lemon peel by its long edges, skin facing down into the glass, pinch the peel to release the citrus oils. Add it to the glass and serve.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
WMdO
We used Zucca Rabarbaro as the amaro when we decided Nonino may be too summery for a late November evening (even though it was the bottle of Nonino that caught my eye!) and it was delicious.
Hope
From her article: should your smoke tolerance be higher, double down with Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro, a smoky, alpine amaro made in northern Italy. And, if you’re on a tight timeline, combine equal parts Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro and sweet vermouth over ice, and start drinking.
Elizabeth
That scotch sounds good, thanks for noting, I may try that one next time. However, I'm confused as to how the decision to swap out blanc vermouth with dry vermouth warrants calling the recipe, "poorly crafted." And amaro dell'erborista is quite possibly one of the most bitter amaro I know of (of course, my opinion)... perhaps the same drink with the right vermouth and a different amaro, like Rabarbaro, would be better. Cheers
Will
Drink the Scotch on the rocks and save the amaro for a negroni.
Steve
I made this with Famous Grouse, Dolin Blanc and Amaro Montenegro. It was nice. I don't think it would be very good with an Islay whisky-- save that for sipping on its own.
Michael Rivers
Laphroaig Triple Wood, Alessio Vermouth and Bully Boy make this a wonderful drink.
Will
Drink the Scotch on the rocks and save the amaro for a negroni.
hdoran
Agree with comments that I need more direction in what kind of scotch you pair with the amaro and blanc vermouth. It seems that two commenters tried to guess and were less than satisfied -- one going for an Islay whiskey and the other for Glen Morangie 10 year. Yes -- it seems it is important to give direction on scotch but also vermouth for that matter.
JF
Made as directed with an Islay whisky. Not a fan. Smokey peat and sour lemon doesn’t work together in my opinion.
jill
I made this with Glen Morangie 10-yr -- a mild but high quality Scotch. Freshly squeezed lemon juice, of course. Didn't have Blanc Vermouth so used Dolin Dry, and Amaro L'Erborista. I'd describe this cocktail as "poorly crafted". I tasted the lemon juice, and some other individual tastes, but it didn't blend together as do drinks I like. Not sure if a more assertive Scotch such as Ardbeg would have improved it, but the recipe was pretty vague. Wouldn't repeat.
Elizabeth
That scotch sounds good, thanks for noting, I may try that one next time. However, I'm confused as to how the decision to swap out blanc vermouth with dry vermouth warrants calling the recipe, "poorly crafted." And amaro dell'erborista is quite possibly one of the most bitter amaro I know of (of course, my opinion)... perhaps the same drink with the right vermouth and a different amaro, like Rabarbaro, would be better. Cheers
Tom, SFBA
Your changes made this delicious drink read like a very austere, bitter drink, helped in no way by the lemon’s strong acid. I can see it being sipped continuously from a large, eldritch pitcher by a character in Gormenghast. The choice of Scotch is sound, if you go with single malt. Famous Grouse would be good, too.
Hope
From her article: should your smoke tolerance be higher, double down with Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro, a smoky, alpine amaro made in northern Italy. And, if you’re on a tight timeline, combine equal parts Amaro Sfumato Rabarbaro and sweet vermouth over ice, and start drinking.
Thom Hessel
Ms. Peppler, can you be more specific about the Scotch? I assume you mean blended Scotch, not a single-malt? Or better yet, can you (or others) recommend Scotch/amaro combinations? I could see a smoky/sweet combo working, like a Johnny Walker black label with Amaro Montenegro.
WMdO
We used Zucca Rabarbaro as the amaro when we decided Nonino may be too summery for a late November evening (even though it was the bottle of Nonino that caught my eye!) and it was delicious.
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