Bloody Blood and Sand
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 16.4% ABV ∙
The Bloody Blood and Sand shakes Scotch with cherry liqueur, sweet vermouth and blood orange juice, plus a peated malt accent, served up in a coupe. Cherry sweetness and orange brightness lead, with a smoky whisper of peated malt underneath and a soft, short finish — an easy after-dinner sipper.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Blended Scotch whisky 25 mlCherry liqueur 25 mlRosso vermouth 25 mlPeated single malt whisky 5 mlBlood orange juice 30 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Shake all five ingredients hard with fresh ice for a full 12-15 seconds since the juice and vermouth need vigorous aeration to marry with the equal-parts scotch, liqueur and vermouth.
- Measure the peated single malt precisely at its small 5 ml dose — it is there to lay a thread of smoke under the cherry and citrus, not to lead.
- Double-strain through a fine mesh into a chilled coupe to remove citrus pulp and ice shards, giving a silky, clear surface for the orange twist.
- Express the orange twist's oils over the drink's surface before resting it on the rim, reinforcing the blood orange juice already in the shake.
History
Bloody Blood and Sand is a variation on the Blood and Sand, a Scotch whisky cocktail whose recipe first appeared in Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book in London. The drink is widely said to take its name from Blood and Sand, the 1922 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino as a bullfighter, itself based on Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel; who actually created the cocktail, or whether it predates the book, remains undocumented, with Craddock generally credited only as the first to publish it rather than as its inventor. This variation adds a portion of peated single malt whisky alongside the blended Scotch, lending the classic equal-parts build a smokier edge.
