Highballs and long drinks · Scotch whisky
Two ingredients, a tall glass packed with ice and a twist of lemon. Done well, the soda lifts the whisky's malt, honey and hint of smoke instead of drowning it, and the drink stays bone dry and lively.
1¾ oz
blended Scotch whiskye.g. Johnnie Walker · Chivas Regal · Famous Grouse · Glenfiddich · Monkey Shoulder
4 oz
soda water well chilled
1
lemon peel (optional)
Garnish: Lemon twist (optional) · Ice: Ice cubes
Scotch and Soda
Crisp, dry and lightly effervescent, with malt, honey and a faint smoky note. Light enough to sip through a meal.
Scotch and soda became fashionable in Britain in the late nineteenth century, when blended Scotch whisky spread beyond Scotland and bottled soda water was widely available. It quickly turned into a standard club and hotel drink across the British Empire.
The drink is the ancestor of the highball family, the long drinks made from a spirit and a carbonated mixer over ice. Who first called such a drink a "highball" is disputed; one often repeated claim credits the New York bartender Patrick Duffy in the 1890s, but that account rests largely on his own word.
In recent decades Japan has made the whisky highball a cult drink, with bars obsessing over ice, glass temperature and the exact way the soda is poured. The lesson applies to the humble Scotch and soda too: cold ingredients and good carbonation are everything.
About one part whisky to two or three parts soda. Less soda brings out the whisky, more makes it lighter and more refreshing.
A good blended Scotch or a light, unpeated single malt. Expensive, heavily aged malts are better enjoyed neat.
It is one of the original highballs. Today highball describes any spirit topped with a carbonated mixer in a tall glass.
The perfect sound
Simple, clean and quietly sophisticated.
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