The Spicy Honey Penicillin

close up of golden yellow drink in etched crystal rocks glass with a lemon peel twist. Blurred in the background is a bottle of Glayva liqueur and Jura whisky with a lemon

Smoky, spicy, sweet, and tangy. Just the way we like 'em. 

by Erin Henderson

My dad’s a whisky man.
 
Shockingly, he doesn’t really like cocktails. Sure, he’s the guy behind the ingenious Dave’s Manhattan, the recipe of which I’ve shared in our newsletter, on Instagram, and You Tube a few times, and he’s been known to down a G+T or two in the summer, but other than that, he’s more likely to take a healthy three-finger dram on ice as his apéro of choice.
 
So imagine my surprise – and chagrin – when he polished off my scotch cocktail while we were having drinks a little while ago.

I suppose I should thank him, really; it was his enthusiastic lapping up of my drink that inspired me to go in search of the ingredients to recreate it for him at home. This was a little over a year ago, and I've been making it ever since. 

This is a very slight riff on a classic Penicillin cocktail, a drink made with a base of peaty whisky and balanced out by honey and lemon and garnished with ginger. I've made a few alterations, but I think it's just as good. Maybe better. And my dad really likes it too. 

Spicy Honey Penincillin

Serves: 1
Bartender level:
easy

Ingredients: 
  • 1 ½ oz smoky Scotch (such as Jura, Laphroaig, or Ardbeg)
  • 1 ½ oz Glayva whisky liqueur
  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ oz honey syrup
  • 2 oz non-alc ginger beer, for topping
How to Make It: 
  1. In a shaker filled with ice, add all ingredients except for ginger beer, and shake to chill, about 10 seconds.
  2. Strain into a rocks glass with a king cube.
  3. Gently pour in the ginger beer and stir to combine.
  4. Garnish with a thick lemon wedge and serve.  

Hear From Real People!

The event was a huge success! Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the group was quite engaged. The wine was also delicious! Thank you so much! I hope we can work together on another event in the future!
Erin did a fantastic job with our group. We all really enjoyed the day. I have already recommended The Wine Sisters for my company events, as it was such a great experience for us.
Wow, Emily was absolutely fantastic! She was patient, explained the wines well, and was a delight to work with.

Thank you so much for everything I will definitely use your services again.
 
[They] quickly engaged our group with our wine themed engagement party. Guests were lined up all evening for the experience. [They] very willing to involve guests in tasting discussion. We are all a little more wine savvy - thank you The Wine Sisters
I wanted to thank you SO much for your tutored wine tasting! It was so much fun. You were both informative and hilarious! Each person said they would definitely recommend you to anyone looking to do a wine tasting!
I wanted to thank you again for last night. Everyone had a great time, and I received a lot of compliments, on your behalf. You struck a great balance between being informational and entertaining. 10 out of 10.
Thank you very much for the amazing wine tasting. We all had the most wonderful time. The wines were excellent and your presentation was very entertaining and informative.
I’m really pleased with how the event went. Everyone feels really happy with your incredible hosting skills and experience. We all DEFINITELY want to use The Wine Sisters again! Thank you so much!!
Thank you very, very, very much for the outstanding planning and support you gave in making this event an absolute success. People were just having a fantastic time and the set-up and style were absolutely brilliant. I think we got what we exactly wanted. I will reach out again!
Our guests had a great evening and Erin made sure that everyone (even non-drinkers) enjoyed themselves! Thanks for making the bridal shower so memorable!

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