How to Make a Penicillin Cocktail: Recipe and Tips

Australian bartender Sam Ross created the Penicillin in New York City in the early 2000s. This bracing sour, sweetened with honey and sharpened with ginger, features a smoky edge gained through the addition of peated Islay single malt. The classic recipe calls for blended Scotch as a base, with a float of Islay whisky on the top. It's a great drink and beautifully balanced, but in our twist on the formula we’re going all-in on smoke with a large measure of Laphroaig 10 Year Old.

The brilliance of the Penicillin lies in its simplicity. It’s made with ingredients that are likely already in your kitchen and, like all great cocktails, its magic comes from the bridging and balancing of these different elements. It arrives golden and almost effervescent from the shaker showing smoke and citrus at first, then comes a hit of fiery ginger which is softened by the spoonful of honey that helps the Penicillin go down. Even when you dial the peated whisky up, as we have in this version, it still takes you on a journey with a beginning, middle and an ending – like the classic three act structure. There's a reason why this is a modern classic. 

HOW TO MAKE A PENICILLIN

Honey Ginger Syrup

Start by making a honey-ginger syrup. Combine two parts each of honey and water, with one part freshly grated ginger in a blender and blitz until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth, then bottle. The syrup will keep in the fridge for about a week.

Recipe

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice to chill it while you prepare the drink.

2. Pour 50ml of your favourite peated Islay single malt into a cocktail shaker. We’ve used Laphroaig 10 Year Old.

3. Add 20ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the shaker.

4. Then 20ml of your homemade honey-ginger syrup.

5. Fill the shaker with ice and shake hard for about 10-15 seconds

7. Strain the mixture into your chilled glass, over fresh ice.

8. To finish, garnish with a small piece of candied ginger or a thin lemon wheel.

Don't be afraid to customise this recipe to suit your tastes. You can adjust the sweetness or spice level and experiment with your favourite peated whiskies to achieve different results. A softly tropical Bowmore 12 Year Old, for instance, will introduce milder peat and a more pronounced fruitiness. Caol Ila 12 Year Old, by contrast, will highlight the lemon with it's clean smokiness and pronounced minerality. And of course, you don't have to go big on the smoke like we have. The original recipe with 50ml of blended Scotch and a spritz of peated malt over the top of the finished drink is still great. 

New York via Islay: The history of the Penicillin cocktail

Sam Ross, an Aussie who came of age amid the hustle and bustle of Melbourne’s hospitality scene, started working in his family’s café at just 15. A few years later, Sam’s family opened a cocktail bar, sparking what would become a lifelong obsession with mixed drinks. That passion carried Ross to New York City in 2004, when it was at the forefront of a global cocktail renaissance.

Slinging drinks and working nights in the city that never sleeps, Ross soon crossed paths with industry legend Sasha Petraske. He then found himself working at Petraske’s Milk & Honey, the hugely influential bar that kickstarted the speakeasy trend and helped shape modern cocktail culture. Among the many drinks created within its four walls was the Gold Rush, essentially a Whisky Sour with honey replacing the sugar. This was the precursor to the Penicillin and Ross made plenty of these during his tenure at Milk & Honey.

The team there constantly reworked classic cocktail templates, swapping ingredients and breaking conventions. It wasn’t long before Ross arrived at the Penicillin. The drink was embraced by the US cocktail scene almost immediately, eventually making its way to the UK, where it found avid fans at Milk & Honey’s London outpost. In 2013, Ross took over the original Milk & Honey space and reopened it under a new name: Attaboy. It’s regarded as the go-to spot for a textbook Penicillin and – and a benchmark for modern cocktail bars. 

Today, the Penicillin can be found in bars around the world. It’s widely considered the most recognisable peated whisky cocktail and its influence shows no sign of fading. Riffs on Ross’s drinks continue to circulate – online and on menus – as bartenders explore fresh ways to rework its simple, elegant blueprint.