The Rob Roy Cocktail Recipe

Posted in Scotch on March 6, 2014

The Rob Roy cocktail is actually a variation of the Manhattan, but it is made with Scotch Whiskey instead. The Manhattan was traditionally made with rye whiskey, but nowadays it is common to use either bourbon or Canadian whiskey.

This cocktail was created in 1894 at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. It was especially made in order to celebrate the premiere of an operetta called Rob Roy and inspired by a famous Scottish character. It then increased in popularity and it is famous even nowadays.

If you know how to make a Manhattan, you won’t have any problem in preparing the Rob Roy. After all, everything that you need to do is to replace the bourbon or the Canadian whiskey with Scotch Whiskey. Just like the Manhattan, this one can also be sweet, dry or perfect. The distinction between these three types is made by type of vermouth that you are using: the sweet version calls for sweet vermouth (this is actually the original recipe), the dry one uses dry vermouth and the perfect version includes a combination of equal parts of dry and sweet vermouth. If you simply ask for a Rob Roy, you’ll receive the sweet version because this is the standard one. You only need to specify if you want a dry or perfect one.

How to Prepare the Rob Roy

You need the following ingredients:

• 1 ½ oz.  Scotch Whiskey.
• ¼ oz. sweet vermouth.
• A dash of angostura bitters.
• Maraschino cherry for garnish.

Put all the ingredients except the cherry into a mixing glass with ice and stir them well. Strain the drink in a chilled cocktail glass and use the maraschino cherry for garnish.

If you want to try the dry or the perfect version of this cocktail, all you have to do is to replace the sweet vermouth with dry one or, respectively, to use equal parts of sweet and dry vermouth. The standard Rob Roy is usually garnished with a cherry, but for the dry or perfect version, you can use a lemon twist.

Angostura bitters is usually included in this cocktail, but there are books which claim that better results can be obtained with orange bitters. It doesn’t hurt to give it a try.