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 pour 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
  • 2 oz non-alc ginger beer
  • 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • ½ oz honey syrup
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!

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.
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.
 
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!
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!
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!!
You and your team were an absolute pleasure to work with! From the get go, you were very flexible with our needs, communicated in a timely manner, and tailored your services to be exactly what we asked for.
The Wine Sisters are professional and flexible to attend to client needs. They’re able to provide 'one stop shop for events.
Everybody had a ton of fun and we very much see this structure as a template we can use with clients and friends in the future.
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.
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.

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