Penicillin cocktail

History

Adapted from a 2005 recipe created by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey in Manhattan, New York City. Sam's original recipe (below) calls for ¾ oz honey-ginger syrup in place of ginger liqueur and honey.

Sam Ross's Penicillin recipe
Glass: Old-fashioned
Garnish: Skewered crystallised ginger
Method: SHAKE first 3 ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass. TOP with Islay whisky.
60ml (2oz) Blended Scotch whisky
22.5ml (¾oz) Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
22.5ml (¾oz) Honey & ginger syrup*
7.5ml (¼oz) Peated Islay single malt scotch whisky

*To make honey & ginger syrup
Peel and thinly slice 100 grams (3.5oz) of root ginger and place in a saucepan with 1 cup of honey and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and place in a sealed container in a refrigerator to steep for 12 hours. Strain, bottle, and store in a refrigerator. Use within three days.

I created my version of Sam's contemporary classic, using ginger liqueur to avoid the faff of making ginger honey syrup, back in March 2009. With a good liqueur, it retains much of the ginger spice but in a more mellow form than the heat of fresh ginger juice. However, in February 2025, I came across a clutch of excellent cocktails (led by the Toreador del Diablo) made with ginger juice syrup. As to hand, I used this to create another version of the Penicillin:

Difford's Ginger Juice Syrup Penicillin
Glass: Old-fashioned
Garnish: Skewered crystallised ginger
Method: SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled glass.
45ml (1½oz) Blended Scotch whisky
10ml (⅓oz) Peated single malt scotch whisky
7.5ml (¼oz) Ginger juice syrup
15ml (½oz) Honey syrup (3 honey to 1 water)
20ml (⅔oz) Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)