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

  • 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
  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!

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!
[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
You were great and hilarious, and made everyone feel comfortable. Appreciate your time with me and helping pull this event together.
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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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!
The Wine Sisters put on magnificent event in Unionville..... They did a superb job, both as Sommeliers and on the PR and overall event co-ordination ... Great job and we look forward to working with you on our event!
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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.
Everything was perfect and very personalized! We still talk about experience and how nice it was. Definitely memories our family will treasure forever.

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