Cocktail · Spirit-forward
Penicillin
Scotch, honey-ginger, lemon, and a float of smoky Islay. Modern-classic medicine.
How to order it: Sam Ross, 2005. The best cocktail invented this century, ask anyone.
Flavor profile
The recipe
- 2 oz blended Scotch
- ¾ oz lemon juice
- ¾ oz honey-ginger syrup
- Shake; rocks glass
- Float ¼ oz Islay Scotch; candied ginger
The story
One of the few modern drinks already certain of its place in the canon. Sam Ross, a young Australian bartender at Sasha Petraske's Milk & Honey in New York, created it in 2005: a whisky sour rebuilt with honey-ginger syrup, blended Scotch, and a float of smoky Islay malt drifting over the top like fog over a harbor. The name was a wink — a drink that tastes medicinal in the best possible way, all honey, lemon, heat, and smoke. It spread bar to bar, continent to continent, without a single advertisement, the cocktail world's purest word-of-mouth hit. It endures because it genuinely does make you feel cured.
Classic variation
The Penicillin is a riff on a classic. Meet the original:
Adjacent pours