highland games

1 1/2 oz Oban 14 Year Scotch (Glenrothes 1991)
1 oz Lustau Pedro Ximénez "Murillo" Centenary Sherry (Lustau Pedro Ximénez San Emilio)
1 oz Cocchi Americano
Juice of 1/2 Lemon (3/4 oz)
1 small Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a cocktail coupe and garnish with a sprinkling of freshly ground dried orange peels (I used a mortar and pestle).

When I received an email announcing the 12 finalists for the 2010 Vinos de Jerez Cocktail Competition, I immediately wrote the public relations lady and requested the recipes since we enjoyed making the ones from the 2009 competition so much. Last year, we made Thomas Waugh's Delores Park Swizzle, Corey Bunnewith's Balao Swizzle, Charles Joly's Bread and Wine, and Erick Castro's French Toast Flip; moreover, we had the opportunity to taste Misty Kalkofen's Dunaway as she was at the tail end of developing her recipe (it later made the top 12 as well).

A few from this year caught my eye as not only tasty, but do-able in my kitchen without too much effort or too many purchases. The one I started with was the Highland Games from Owen Thomson of Café Atlántico in Washington, D.C. Owen's recipe required me to go shopping for a Pedro Ximénez sherry which is a rather sweet sherry that often has dried fruit, caramel, and chocolate notes. To that, he paired the drink with Scotch and citrus flavors in an egg white Sour format.
While we do not have Oban in our liquor cabinet, the Glenrothes 1991 seemed like it would be a good match with the sherry and Cocchi Americano for it sports nutty, caramel, and orange notes. The ground up dehydrated orange peel as a garnish was a novel twist for me; it helped to provide a pleasing candied orange note along with the Scotch and lemon aromas on the nose. The sip was a sweet citrus flavor that was followed by the sherry's raisin and the Scotch's smoke. Indeed, this drink could do no wrong.