churchill

1 1/2 oz Scotch (Famous Grouse)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Lacuesta)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Thursdays ago after work, I decided to make a drink that a guest stumped me with and I had to look up – namely the Churchill. When I found it online, it reminded me of a Scotch version of the Oriental found in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, and I shook up the cocktail. When I made it at home, I sourced the recipe from Philip Greene's The Manhattan Book and realized that it could have been stirred (there are shaken recipes out there so I am not sure if Greene took liberties to make it more elegant to fit his Manhattan theme). The drink is also linked to the Savoy for it was crafted by Joe Gilmore, the former head barman of The American Bar at The Savoy Hotel, for Sir Winston Churchill on one of his many visits to the bar. The bar kept Churchill's large bottle of Black & White Whisky on the shelf, and in exchange for this or another drink tribute, Churchill gifted Gilmore a cigar that Gilmore never smoked but cherished until it crumbled from age.The Churchill as a stirred drink welcomed the nose with orange and lime aromas. Next, grape and citrus notes on the sip flowed into Scotch and grapefruit-like flavors on the swallow. Overall, the lime combining with triple sec to make a grapefruit note here reminded me a little of the Pegu Club.