A Manhattan, but make it scotch. The Rob Roy cocktail is similar to the Manhattan in many ways. However, this cocktail calls specifically for scotch whisky. It can be made ‘dry’, ‘sweet’, or ‘perfect’. Today, however, I would like to make them smoky!
So, if you are a peated whisky fan who is partial to a cocktail, read on to see my recommendations for the best scotch to make a smoky Rob Roy.
Check out more whisky cocktails here.
A Brief History Of The Rob Roy
There is a long-running debate about where the Rob Roy originated, as well as what its base spirit was when it was created. The most common explanation is that the cocktail is named for Robert Roy MacGregor, a Scottish outlaw and folk hero who served as the inspiration for the operetta Rob Roy, first performed in 1894. The story goes that the Waldorf Astoria Hotel created the cocktail to serve patrons of the opera house.
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However, an earlier reference to the Rob Roy cocktail dates back as far as 1873. However, the base spirit is not mentioned. As such, we cannot say for certainty that the Rob Roy we know today originated in 1873.
You could argue that the Rob Roy was invented the first time someone decided to use scotch in a Manhattan. One such recipe dates back to 1884.
Despite the enduring debate over its origins, the Rob Roy has cemented itself in cocktail culture as a bold drink with a delicate balance between sweetness and dryness. So, why not add a little smoke into the mix?
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How To Make A Rob Roy
Ingredients:
- 1.5oz/2oz of Scotch
- 1oz of red vermouth
- A few dashes of bitters
- A cherry for garnish – maybe soak the cherry in peated whisky beforehand
Method:
- Get your glass in the freezer a few hours before, or chill it down with ice while you prep the recipe.
- In a mixing jug, combine the ingredients and chill down by stirring it all down with ice until you see condensation on the outside of the jug, and the ice starts to feel loose. Taste it also, that’s very important.
- Ditch the ice from your glass, or pull it from the freezer and strain your drink into the glass. Add a cherry for garnish.
- Enjoy!
This is a great cocktail to experiment with and find out what works for you. My recommendation would be to start out with the vermouth and bitters mix, add 1oz of the scotch, and stir it down. Then, add more if you think you’ll enjoy it, but maybe go a quarter of an oz at a time to fine-tune it.
Peated whisky is typically used as a float in cocktails to add a small amount of very powerful flavor. You won’t find too many cocktails that are using full measures, so do bear that in mind.
Torabhaig Allt Gleann, 46%
BUY NOW: $49.99
The newest distillery on the Isle of Skye for nearly two hundred years has been playing ball in the big leagues since the launch of its first whisky, four years ago.
With a residual phenol level of 17PPM, Torabhaig is a rather sweet, citrusy, coastal style of smoke to enjoy in your Rob Roy. It’s on the younger side, but somehow this shows off even more of the delicacies in this rather stunning bottle of single malt.
Stirred down with some red vermouth and bitters allows an earthier, vegetal, deeper style of Rob Roy cocktail that can give you every flavor of peat, sweetness, and bitterness that you could want.
Ledaig 10 Year Old, 46.3%
BUY NOW: $64.43
Here we go with the big stuff! Ledaig 10 Year Old is still an utterly underrated whisky when it comes to West Coast peated styles.
Sitting in the shadow of Islay, Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull makes some of the best peated whisky you can come across, of all ages and styles. Even the unpeated one is rather spectacular.
When using the Ledaig 10 Year Old in a Rob Roy, you will have to measure out your specs on this very carefully to get the best balance, as this is where the power of peat is going to step up in a big way.
Maybe drop this to 1.5oz rather than the full double, and perhaps counterbalance it with a little more vermouth or even more bitters to bring everything together.
Laphroaig 10 Year Old Sherry Finish, 48%
BUY NOW: $50.95
Big hitter number two! I love Laphroaig, and I was so happy when they introduced something with such a focus on sherry influence on this remarkable spirit.
Again, you’re going to need to find a good balance with this stuff. If you pour in the full 2oz you will have a very smoky Rob Roy.
Or you could approach it with an element of caution and see how you can balance it up. In a stirred-down drink, less can be more when it comes to heavily peated products.
Benriach The Smoky Twelve, 46%
BUY NOW: $54.99
With these next two recommendations, we approach a much more balanced style of peated whisky. This smoky Benriach offers maturation in bourbon, sherry, and Marsala wine casks – giving you this sticky toffee, smoky, Speyside option in your arsenal.
With the Benriach 12 Year Old, you can do the full 1.5oz to 2oz pours quite easily in the stirred-down drink. I’d go for some bitters if you’ve got them to help accentuate those Marsala and sherry notes a little more in the final product.
But even outside of cocktails, this is a rather stunning, and affordable Speyside with some fun twists within it.
Highland Park 12 Year Old, 40-43%
BUY NOW: $41.95
Some would say that this is the perfect whisky for this cocktail. I am one of them. When it comes to peat, Highland Park is very unique. The different types of peat are too difficult to explain in this short article. In a nutshell, on Orkney, there is a makeup of slightly sweeter, heather honey, gently smoky styles. Even when it comes to liquids that are more heavily peated from Highland Park, they don’t hit the same way as Islay, but they’re still impactful and warrant detailed attention.
A heavier vermouth such as Punt e Mes is a perfect match for this scotch in a Rob Roy. It has heavier herbaceous flavors and bitterness, despite being a ‘sweet vermouth’. Maybe some orange bitters or classic Angostura to help push through some Christmas-style spices from the sherry casks used in the whisky. Either way, you’re in for a good time.
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