CLASSIC · BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY

Blood and Sand

Name: Blood and Sand
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 drink
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 22.5 ml Blended Scotch Whisky; 22.5 ml Cherry Liqueur (Cherry Heering); 22.5 ml Sweet Red Vermouth; 22.5 ml Fresh Orange Juice; Orange Twist

One of the very few great Scotch cocktails, this 1920s equal-parts curiosity balances smoky whisky against cherry liqueur and fresh orange in a way that should not work and completely does.

Ingredients

Blended Scotch Whisky22.5 ml

Cherry Liqueur (Cherry Heering)22.5 ml

Sweet Red Vermouth22.5 ml

Fresh Orange Juice22.5 ml

Orange Twist

Glassware

Coupe glass

Chilled.

Coupe glasses, set of 4Ad

Flavor

Cherry · Woodsmoke · Dark chocolate · Cask character · Orange

Estimated profile

A cigar alongside More like this

Method

1
Chill a coupe glass.
2
Combine the Scotch, cherry liqueur, sweet vermouth and orange juice in a shaker.
3
Add ice and shake hard for 10–12 seconds.
4
Fine-strain into the chilled coupe.
5
Express an orange twist over the surface and drop it in.

The kit for this drink

Glassware Shake and strain Prep and serve

From the Bartender

Named for the 1922 Rudolph Valentino bullfighting film and first printed in Harry Craddock's Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. Equal parts is the historic spec, but modern bars often push the Scotch to 30ml and pull the cherry back — worth trying both. A peaty Islay dram turns it into a different, darker drink entirely.

Rating

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