The Penicillin
Learn how to make Sam Ross’s spicy and smoky modern classic - The Penicillin.
Ingredients
50ml blended whisky
20ml fresh lemon juice
20ml honey & ginger syrup* (recipe below)
10-15ml smoky whisky
Good ice
Candied ginger to garnish
Equipment
A rocks glass
A jigger
Shaker tins
A barspoon
A hawthorne strainer
A fine strainer
Method
First you need to make the honey and ginger syrup. Add 1 part honey, 1 part water and chopped fresh ginger to a saucepan (obviously the more ginger you add, the spicier the syrup will be- we usually use around an inch of ginger root per 100ml of syrup). Simmer for about 10-15 minutes, then allow to cool. We like to leave the ginger in the syrup overnight in the fridge then strain out, to make sure the flavour really comes through, but you can definitely use straight away if necessary.
Add all of the ingredients except the smoky whisky to your shaker tin. Fill shaker tin full with ice. Combine tins and shake hard until the tins become frosted.
Open tins and double strain (use the hawthorn strainer to hold the ice back in the tin and pour through the fine strainer) into a chilled rocks glass, over good quality ice. Pour smoky whisky slowly over the back of a spoon so it floats gently on the top of the drink.
Garnish with candied ginger on a skewer and enjoy!
Suggested Spirits
For your blended whisky, we like Johnnie Walker Black Label. This is a good, widely available whisky at the price point, and packs enough flavour punch to stand up in the drink.
Then for your smoky whisky, we suggest Ardbeg Ten as a great option. It’s one of the biggest and smokiest of all the scotches.