Blood and Sand

Recently, I was at a local bar, and the bartender and I were discussing mixed drinks made with Scotch. I'm a total Scotch novice, especially cocktails with Scotch, and she recommended a Blood and Sand. I had never heard of this, but since then I've noticed it in multiple cocktail books, including The Savoy Cocktail Book, which I just got today. I wanted to try something from the book, so I went with this drink.

A little history: this cocktail is named after a Rudolph Valentino movie from 1922, Blood and Sand. Valentino plays a bullfighter (hence the blood). The Wall Street Journal did a write-up of this drink and its history in 2008; check out that article here.

Just a word of advice--you should probably check to make sure you have all the necessary ingredients before you start dumping stuff in a glass. I could have sworn I had a bottle of Scotch, but nope, no such luck, so I made this one with bourbon. Oops.

The real ingredients for the Blood and Sand are:

• 1 part orange juice
• 1 part Scotch whisky (whiskey vs whisky; I used Rebel Yell Bourbon)
• 1 part Italian vermouth (red/sweet vermouth--I used Vya)
• 1 part cherry brandy (I used Cherry Heering)

Mix all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

Now, I have no clue what this would taste like with Scotch, but I am pretty pleased with how this turned out with the bourbon. Surprisingly, it's not very sweet. Actually, it doesn't even have much of an overwhelming flavor of anything. I like it, but the next time I make this I'm going to have to get some Scotch so I know what it really tastes like.