Arnaud’s Special Cocktail
Owing to the fact that we had to skip over the Amarosa Cocktail I was a little daunted at the prospect of another in-your-face whiskey drink. This gin girl can handle her bourbon, but I’m out of my league when it comes to scotch. Luckily D lives for a good scotch cocktail and was completely in his element.
As we had a couple of brands of scotch and a couple different bitters on hand we decided to test several variations of this drink. We made D’s with Johnny Walker Red,
as suggested by Dr. Cocktail, and Fee’s Orange Bitters. I concocted my libation with Glenfiddich and Angostura Orange Bitters. Both cocktails exhibited notes of orange, bing cherry, coffee, moss, and band-aid, but Doug’s was more peaty, notably so, while mine was sharper from the bolder Angostura bitters.
We were both surprised at the refreshing quality of this beverage. I had expected to be breathing out whisky vapours, but the Dubonnet quelled the scotch.
For his part D was looking for more intensity from the scotch. While not dissatisfied with the drink he nevertheless declared Arnaud’s Special Cocktail to be “an afternoon drink” and likened the concoction to a “scotch sangria.”
In an attempt to amp up the scotch flavour D devised a third version using 1½ ounces Johnny Walker Red, ½ ounce Laphroig, 1 ounce Dubonnet Rouge and 3 dashes of Fee’s Orange Bitters. The result was a peat bomb.
The Laphroaig completely overpowered the delicate flavours offered by the aperitif and the bitters.
Our consensus: use a blended or lowland scotch for subtlety and balance.
Arnaud’s Special Cocktail
- 2 ounces scotch (such as Johnny Walker Red)
- 1 ounce Dubonnet Rouge
- 3 dashes orange bitters (we like Angostura Orange)
Shake over ice. Strain. Garnish with an orange twist.