Name: Blood and Sand (Classic formula)
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 22.5 ml Scotch whisky; 22.5 ml Cherry brandy; 22.5 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 22.5 ml Orange juice

Blood and Sand (Classic formula)
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Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
³⁄₄ oz	Blended Scotch whisky
³⁄₄ oz	Heering Cherry Liqueur
³⁄₄ oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
³⁄₄ oz	Orange juice (freshly squeezed)

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of orange zest twist.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over the cocktail and use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

One of the best classic Scotch cocktails, the Blood & Sand is said to be the Scotch whisky-based cocktail that whisky haters will like. Some may find this equal part's recipe a tad on the sweet side and if this is the case then our Blood & Sand recipe ups the Scotch notes with reduced sweet ingredients.

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Variant:

Blood and Sand (classic recipe)
Velasco and Sand
Gringo's Blood & Sand
Iron and Sand
Peat, Blood, Sweat & Sand/a>
Bloody Blood & Sand
Perfectly Straight Blood & Sand.
Dutch Blood and Sand
Wood Sap & Sand

History:

Created in 1922, this cocktail is named after Rudolph Valentino's Blood & Sand movie.

Nutrition:

One serving of Blood and Sand (Classic formula) contains 174 calories

Alcohol content:

0.9 standard drinks
14.71% alc./vol. (14.71° proof)
13.2 grams of pure alcohol

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Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 11 comments for Blood and Sand (Classic formula).
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Ruth Harvey

29th March at 17:39

It wasn't too sweet for me...just too small - for our coupe glasses. Next time (and that might be very soon!😋) I will use a Nick &Nora glass.

Cam Natale-Miles

9th March at 21:52

Try splitting the orange juice with lemon juice. Far more balanced :)

Michael Z

28th January at 04:31

I made a second one after watching the video - I feel the flamed garnish took this drink from good to great.

Dutch Courage

10th January at 19:02

I had no Scotch so I tried it with Teeling and it may need something bolder, with some peat.

Still a nice cocktail with the lingering cherry aftertaste rounding it off.

Karen MacLeod

11th June 2023 at 07:38

I’m not fond of scotch whisky so I make this with rye and blood orange.

Josh Meurer

19th March 2023 at 00:30

Not sure if anyone is interested in this here but if you are I would be interested in your suggestions. I am working on a non-alcoholic version of this. Here is my recipe so far. Does anyone have a different suggestion for the Cherry Heering substitution?

1 oz - Lyre's - Non-Alcoholic American Malt
1 oz - VERSIN Non-Alcoholic Vermouth Alternative
1/2 oz - Torani Cherry Syrup
1/2 oz - Beckett's '27 N/A Amaretto
1 oz - Orange Juice.

Karen MacLeod

11th June 2023 at 07:38

Is use the syrup from Luxardo cherries

William Y

19th June 2021 at 19:02

For me, it's a bit too sweet (could be the Heering) so I will love to try Difford's recipe next time. Also mine had a thin layer of foam on top of the drink, wonder if it was caused by the orange juice...?

Simon Difford

20th June 2021 at 08:32

Yes, probably orange juice. Please see Garibaldi - "fluffy" orange juice is the key ingredient.

Nathalie O'Flynn

14th May 2021 at 17:47

Made this a couple of times before and I think we weren't that keen and forgot about that and made it again tonight, I think we like it more now. I am wondering if am doing something wrong as my one is very dark due to the red/weet vermouth

Simon Difford

17th May 2021 at 16:53

I've just made to check colour and indeed is more a deep rust-red. It's quite an old photo and could have been made lighter by lighting or post-processing. Photo on page with my own Blood & Sand recipe is a lot darker.

Jarrod Reid

30th December 2020 at 02:00

My first sip or two, I wasn’t convinced. The cocktail got better as I enjoyed it.

Sandip Gohil

7th November 2020 at 03:00

Bloody nice! Well balanced especially with Johnnie Walker Black. I didn't use Heering, but still getting those cherry vibes. Very smooth and easy to drink.