The first sniff is peat smoke from the Islay float, the first sip is warm honey, fiery ginger and bright lemon. Underneath, a soft blended Scotch holds it all together, and the whole thing tastes like a smarter, smokier Hot Toddy served cold.
4.7Editors’ rating
Taste4.8
Balance4.7
Easy to make3
Popularity65
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Add blended Scotch, lemon juice and honey ginger syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds.
Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
Gently pour the Islay whisky over the back of a bar spoon so it floats on top.
Garnish with a piece of candied ginger if you have it.
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Penicillin
Taste
Honeyed and gingery with fresh lemon acidity, then a long smoky finish. Full flavoured and fairly strong, yet smooth.
History and origin
The Penicillin was created by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey in New York in the mid-2000s. It is a riff on the Gold Rush, the bar's bourbon, lemon and honey sour: Ross swapped bourbon for blended Scotch, added fresh ginger to the honey syrup and finished the drink with a small float of peaty Islay single malt.
The name plays on the old idea of whisky, honey, lemon and ginger as a home cure, though of course the drink is no medicine. Within a few years it had travelled from New York to bar menus around the world, and it is widely counted among the best-known original cocktails of its generation. The IBA added it to its New Era Drinks.
Bartender tips
Make the syrup by simmering sliced fresh ginger in water, straining it and mixing it with an equal amount of honey; it keeps about two weeks in the fridge.
Do not shake the Islay malt with the rest: floated on top, it gives the aroma without flattening the drink.
No ginger syrup at hand? Muddle three thin slices of fresh ginger in the shaker and use plain honey syrup.
