Penicillin
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 19.7% ABV ∙
The Penicillin is an official IBA contemporary classic built on blended Scotch, muddled ginger, lemon, and honey, with a peated malt float in a rocks glass. A smoky, medicinal crown gives way to a warming ginger heat and rich honeyed sweetness, balanced by a sharp acidic snap over a robust malty backbone.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Muddle Fresh ginger root 3 slices in a shaker and add ingredients: Blended Scotch whisky 60 mlLemon juice 22 mlHoney syrup 22 ml
- Shake
- Fine strain into the chilled old fashioned glass with ice
- Float Peated single malt whisky 7 ml on top
- Garnish with candied ginger
Tips
- Pre-chill the old-fashioned glass so the fine strain over ice doesn't lose its chill before serving.
- Muddle the ginger slices lightly before shaking to release juice without pulverizing fibrous strands into the drink.
- Float the peated single malt gently over the back of a spoon so it sits on top rather than mixing straight through.
History
The Penicillin was created in 2005 by Australian bartender Sam Ross at Milk & Honey on Manhattan's Lower East Side, just a year after he emigrated from Melbourne. Ross developed it as a riff on the Gold Rush, one of the bar's popular whiskey sours made with bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup. Working with a new shipment of Compass Box whiskies, he swapped in a blended Scotch, split the sweetening between honey and fresh ginger juice, and finished the drink with a float of the smoky, peated blended malt Peat Monster.
He named the result Penicillin as a tongue-in-cheek nod to its perceived cure-all, cold-remedy qualities, evoking the medicinal drug of the same name discovered by Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming — much like a hot toddy. The drink spread from Milk & Honey to bars across Los Angeles and beyond after Ross began consulting there in 2007, and by the following decade it had become so widely copied that some younger bartenders assumed it was a much older classic. Ross's Scotch formula has since been widely adapted by other bartenders into tequila and mezcal versions, among others, but the original remains the reference point.
FAQ
What is in a Penicillin cocktail?
Blended Scotch whisky, fresh lemon juice, honey syrup, and muddled fresh ginger, shaken and fine-strained over ice with a peated single malt floated on top. It is finished with a candied ginger garnish.
Is a Penicillin shaken or stirred?
Shaken. The ginger, lemon juice, and honey syrup need the aeration and quick chill of a shake, then the drink is fine-strained over ice so no ginger fiber reaches the glass.
Why is it called a Penicillin cocktail?
It is named after the antibiotic as a tongue-in-cheek nod to its honey, lemon, and ginger, ingredients long used in home remedies for colds, even though the drink has no medicinal or antibacterial effect.
What is the difference between a Gold Rush and a Penicillin?
A Gold Rush is built from just bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup, while a Penicillin adds muddled ginger and swaps in Scotch whisky, plus a floated peated single malt on top for a smoky finish the Gold Rush does not have.
Can I make a Penicillin without honey?
Honey syrup is central to this recipe's body and sweetness, so leaving it out will make the drink noticeably thinner and sharper from the lemon. A different neutral sweetener could stand in, but it will not carry the same honeyed depth against the peated Scotch float.
