Rob Roy Cocktail
Posted on November 28, 2013 by Leslie Blythe 7 comments
Happy Thanksgiving! Here is a word from my in-house cocktail blogger, Eric Miller….
Scotch For The Holidays
What I did on my vacation?
For the last ten years….
Took pictures of your town,
Plaid perfume on my breath.
I mean I’ve been drinking Scotch.
While touring through your town….
Thanksgiving is a time for many things—with eating and drinking at the top of the list. In keeping with the theme, any cranberry-related cocktail will do, whether it is a Cape Codder or a Cosmo. Of course, given that this holiday tends to start early, go forever, and require some relatively skilled labor in the kitchen, some like to forego cocktails for drinks with lower alcohol levels and stick to wine or champagne. Don’t fool yourself: a magnum of bubbles or a couple of bottles of Far Niente before carving the turkey will not end well—for you or the turkey.
I would rather deal with the joys—and stresses—of a family holiday gathering with a suitably autumnal cocktail; strong enough to take the edge off of all the family fun you are having and yet not so strong that you put the brown sugar in the gravy and the bouquet garni in the pumpkin pie. NB: Pickup games of touch football with young nephews should be attempted before said cocktail—broken stemware in the front lawn is never a good idea.
Because Thanksgiving is the quintessential American holiday, I thought—what is more American than a Rob Roy? We are a melting pot, after all, and how better to celebrate our diversity than give a nod to our Scottish ancestors? The Rob Roy is basically a Manhattan but is made with Scotch whisky, while the Manhattan is traditionally made with rye and today commonly made with bourbon or Canadian whisky.
Created in 1894 by a bartender at the Waldorf Astoria New York, the Rob Roy was named in honor of the premiere of Rob Roy, an operetta loosely based upon Scottish folk hero Robert Roy MacGregor. Any good Scotch will do—I like Dewars or Famous Grouse for this drink.
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