scottish lore

1 1/2 oz Oban 14 Year Scotch (Caol Ila 12 Year)
1/2 oz Ardbeg Corryvreckan (Ardbeg 10 Year)
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Amaro Ciociaro
1 bsp 2:1 Simple Syrup (1 tsp 1:1)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Wednesdays prior, I reached for Neil Ratliff's 2022 Seattle Cocktails book, and the Scottish Lore by Joanna "Jojo" Kitchen lured me it. She created it for a regular at Rob Roy in Seattle as a bartender's choice that she first called The Ayuba Special. The combination reminded me of a Creole Cocktail variation that Deep Ellum did that dropped the vermouth element from the original given how similar Ciociaro and Picon are. Here with smoky whisky, the Scottish Lore began with a lemon and smoky Scotch nose. Next, malty and caramel notes on the sip flowed into smoky Scotch, caramel orange, herbal, and clove flavors on the swallow.