THE BLOOD & SAND

IF SCOTCH is your favorite dram, chances are you like it for its peaty notes and robust, “can’t turn down” flavor. You are most likely accustomed to drinking it on the rocks, maybe with soda, or, if you’re a single malt aficionado, with just one rock or a splash of water. And Scotch cocktails might strike you as an excellent way to waste perfectly good whiskey.

We hear your point, but we LUPEC ladies like to turn pretty much everything into cocktails. It’s what the kids today are doing, after all, and it’s no longer uncommon to see a Scotch-based drink on the menu at your most favorite cocktail bar. There are some classics as well which just might be your gateway into Scotch drinks.

A favorite is The Blood & Sand. Named for a film starring Rudolph Valentino, this drink is more than its parts. Scotch, Cherry Heering, sweet vermouth, and orange juice sounds like an odd combo on paper, no? And in equal ratios, no less. Made with fresh orange juice and shaken with fervor, however, the drink magically transforms into a frothy, swillable concoction. It first appeared in print in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book in 193O. Who put these items together, and when, are things we may never know.

Give this cocktail a go and raise a glass to the late Rudolph Valentino, who received mighty accolades for his performance as a bullfighter in the eponymous film.

THE BLOOD & SAND

1 ounce of Scotch
1 ounce of Cherry Heering brandy
1 ounce of sweet vermouth
1 ounce of orange juice

shake ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.
strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
garnish with a cherry – or cherries!

Cin-cin!