"Aha!" thought I when I had this drink fifteen minutes ago: a surprisingly excellent drink, using some more uncommon cocktail ingredients while producing a memorable and pleasant flavour.1 oz blended scotch (Johnny Walker Red)
1 oz orange juice (fresh)
0.75 oz cherry brandy liqueur (Continental)
0.75 oz sweet vermouth (Cinzano Rosso)
Shake with ice, strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: maraschino cherry.
Well, what can I say? I'm not much of a scotch drinker (hence my having only one relatively cheap bottle of blended scotch), mainly because I don't find the flavour that agreeable. Well, this drink changed that for me. Scotch is a rare ingredient because it's often fine by itself, but I think it's perfect in this drink. Also, cherry brandy is often hard to balance - it is very sweet and tastes strongly of medicine (I like it though) and it's hard to find a place for it outside of the Singapore Sling. The Blood and Sand tastes mainly of cherry brandy and the scotch, but it highlights both of their better sides. The cherry brandy is not too sweet, but still has enough of a presence to cut the burn of the scotch. This, on the other hand, rears its head in a modest fashion. I will admit that there is a nice side to scotch, although it is often covered by the burn and bitterness. This drink exposes the pleasant and mild scotch essence - I'd try different scotches to find the perfect match. However, I'm satisfied just using up my Johnnie Red and cheap Cherry Brandy - these brands still taste great in this drink.
My one criticism? Putting the maraschino cherry on the side of the glass results in a puddle of ant-attracting sweet syrup at the base of the glass. Just chuck it straight in!
