Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Scotch Cocktails

Cunningham

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Liquor.com
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Published 03/29/21
Cunningham cocktail

Liquor.com / Tim Nusog

This drink originated with San Francisco bartender Marco Dionysos (who also created the Ginger Rogers). With a hefty nod to both the classic Blood & Sand, with its combination of scotch, cherry Heering and orange juice, plus a tip of the hat to the Bobby Burns and its use of scotch and Benedictine, this scotch sour employs familiar flavors but still stands on its own.

It veers off from its two progenitors with the citrus juice it calls for. Blood oranges, a seasonal winter fruit, are renowned for their sweetness and raspberrylike flavor, and lemon juice adds tartness for balance and brightness. Both play well with the complex herbal flavors in Benedictine and accent the tart fruity notes of the cherry liqueur.

Garnish it all with a brandied cherry and festive flamed blood orange twist to add a slightly smoky complexity, as well as a good show, and you’ll have a drink that brings fruity brightness to winter’s long nights.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces The Famous Grouse scotch 
  • 1/4 ounce Benedictine
  • 1/4 ounce Heering cherry liqueur
  • 1/2 ounce blood orange juice, freshly squeezed
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  • Garnish: brandied cherry
  • Garnish: flamed blood orange twist

Steps

  1. Add the whisky, liqueurs and fruit juices into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

  2. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

  3. Garnish a brandied cherry and a flamed blood orange twist.