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Saturday, November 13, 2010

Bobby Burns: a cocktail fling from the Italian Highlands

Not quite enjoying a prematurely cold November evening in Salt Lake City, the Utah Mixologist was thumbing through the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930) looking for something interesting to mix up when he stumbled across the Bobby Burns cocktail.  As always, when you’re looking for a classic cocktail to experiment with, the Savoy is a good source of cocktail inspiration.  At first glance, the Bobby Burns sounded a bit like the Rob Roy, another Scotch Whisky classic cocktail, but where warlike Rob Roy has a dash of bitters, the more poetic Bobby Burns has three dashes of Benedictine.  Connoisseurs of good Scotch will want to save their single malt for sipping, so any decent blended Scotch (e.g. Dewar’s®) is recommended for this cocktail.  Instead of Italian Vermouth, I ended up using my favorite sweet Vermouth (Quady Vya™, available in Utah (CS# 910764), keep it in the fridge once it’s open).  This interesting blend of herbals from the Vermouth and Benedictine combined with the Scotch is to be savored.  As it says in the Savoy, “One of the very best Whisky Cocktails. A very fast mover on Saint Andrews Day.” So put on your Scotland football jersey, stir up a Bobby Burns, and enjoy.  And don’t forget to have one on St. Andrew’s Day (November 30).


Bobby Burns Cocktail

1 ½  oz Italian Vermouth (Sweet Vermouth, like Quady Vya)
1 ½  oz Scotch Whisky (use blended, like Dewar’s)
3 dashes (1/3 teaspoon) Benedictine

Pour ingredients into a mixing glass half full of cracked ice.  Stir briskly until well chilled, and strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.  Twist a piece of lemon peel over the glass, rub it lightly around the rim, and drop it in.  Enjoy while it’s icy cold.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Cocktail ingredients Utah update –November 2010

If you’re looking for cocktail ingredients on clearance, there does not appear to be much of interest in the Utah DABC State Liquor Stores this month.  If you see anything good at your local state store, post a response to this article.  As far as Special Price Adjustments (SPA) go, this month does not offer a whole lot of excitement (see next paragraph), but November is usually a lean month in anticipation of many specials in December, including pre-New Year’s price adjustments on sparkling wines.  Watch this space in early December for a sparkling wine update.  See the list “Suggested by the author” below for information on how to use the Utah DABC website.

This month is not a total desert in the cocktail arena, however.  If you’re into Bourbons, Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey® (CS# 017086) is available for $22 ($5 off) and if you like something a little pricier, Knob Creek® (CS# 019226) is available for $29 ($4 off).  There is the usual assortment of flavored Vodkas and flavored and spiced Rums.  Hidden among the Rums is one of my favorites, Gosling’s Black Seal Rum® (CS# 042566) is available for $14 ($2 off).  Tequila lovers have a little more to be happy about.  There is a variety of high-end Tequilas marked down this month that you can discover for yourself by clicking through to the “SPA Product List” to open a price book in PDF format that shows all of the markdowns for the current month; then search on “tequila”.