Name: Penicillin
Prep time: 8 min
Total time: 8 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Ingredients: 2 oz blended Scotch (Famous Grouse, Teacher's, or Monkey Shoulder); ¾ oz fresh lemon juice; ¾ oz honey-ginger syrup (see tip); ¼ oz Islay Scotch (Laphroaig, Ardbeg, or Caol Ila) — floated on top; Candied ginger — to garnish; HONEY-GINGER SYRUP: 2 parts honey, 1 part water, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger — warm gently until combined, strain, cool

Ingredients

2 oz blended Scotch (Famous Grouse, Teacher's, or Monkey Shoulder)
¾ oz fresh lemon juice
¾ oz honey-ginger syrup (see tip)
¼ oz Islay Scotch (Laphroaig, Ardbeg, or Caol Ila) — floated on top
Candied ginger — to garnish
HONEY-GINGER SYRUP: 2 parts honey, 1 part water, 1 tsp grated fresh ginger — warm gently until combined, strain, cool

Method

1

Make the syrup (if needed)Combine honey, water, and grated ginger in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the honey dissolves — about 2 minutes. Don't boil. Strain through a fine sieve into a jar and cool. Keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge.
2

Build the baseAdd blended Scotch, lemon juice, and honey-ginger syrup to a shaker. Fill with ice.
3

ShakeShake hard for 12 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
4

Float the Islay ScotchUsing the back of a bar spoon held just above the surface of the drink, slowly pour the Islay Scotch over the spoon so it floats on top as a thin aromatic layer. Don't stir — the float is there to be smelled as well as tasted.
5

GarnishPlace a piece of candied ginger on the rim or skewer it on a cocktail pick across the glass.

Blended vs Single Malt for the Base

Use blended Scotch for the base, not a single malt. Blended Scotch is rounder, more neutral, and lets the honey-ginger-lemon combination shine. A heavily peated single malt in the base overpowers everything else. Save the peat for the float, where it belongs.

For the float, the smokier the better. Laphroaig 10 is the classic choice — big peat, medicinal, intense. Ardbeg Uigeadail is richer and more complex. Even a very small measure (¼ oz) makes a dramatic difference to the aroma.

Variations

🍋 Penicillin Fizz

Shake the base ingredients, strain into a highball over ice, and top with 2 oz soda water before floating the Islay Scotch. Longer, lighter, very good in warm weather.

🇯🇵 Japanese Penicillin

Use Japanese whisky (Nikka From the Barrel) as the base and a smoky Scotch float. The Japanese whisky is lighter and more delicate — a refined variation.

🌶️ Spiced Penicillin

Add 2 dashes of ginger bitters to the shaker alongside the honey-ginger syrup. More ginger heat on the finish.

🍯 Yuzu Penicillin

Replace ¼ oz of the lemon juice with yuzu juice. The yuzu is floral and more complex than lemon — takes the drink in a Japanese direction.

💊 Penicillin

Blended vs Single Malt for the Base

🍋 Penicillin Fizz

🇯🇵 Japanese Penicillin

🌶️ Spiced Penicillin

🍯 Yuzu Penicillin