Episode 187

FEATURED COCKTAIL: THE BOBBY BURNS

This episode’s featured cocktail is the Bobby Burns. Named after poet Robert Burns, who’s widely considered to be the national poet of Scotland. To make it, you’ll need:

• 1.5 oz Blended Scotch whisky

• 1.5 oz Sweet Vermouth (for this application, we’d select a dark option, like Punt e Mes)

• And ½ – ¾ oz Benedictine.liqueur

Combine these ingredients in a mixing beaker with ice, stir until well chilled and diluted, then strain into a stemmed cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon twist. A slightly more precious garnish would be to express and discard the lemon twist and serve the drink with a sweet biscuit or slice of shortbread.

Now, if you’re following along at home, you’ll notice that this is a Manhattan and that it very closely resembles another Manhattan variation, the Vieux Carre. This explains the fact that no two recipes for the Bobby Burns seem to agree on ingredient ratios. More traditional (i.e. Mid-20th century) recipes seem to agree on an equal split between Scotch and Sweet Vermouth, while more contemporary versions pare back the sweetness quite a bit. This is further complicated by the fact that when the drink first appeared in print in about 1900, it was made with Irish Whiskey and absinthe.