Yellow Fog

COCKTAIL INGREDIENTS:
- 45 ml Blended Scotch
- 22,5 ml Lychee Liqueur
- 7,5 ml Galliano Vanilla
- 22,5 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 12,5 ml Simple Syrup
- 10 ml Islay Scotch

GARNISH:
- Lemon Wheel
- Cherry

INSTRUCTIONS:
• Combine all of the ingredients except Islay scotch in a cocktail shaker.
• Add ice and shake until chilled.
• Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
• Top with Islay scotch.
• Garnish with a lemon wheel and a skewered cherry.

For a while now, I wanted to create my very own original Scotch cocktail and this was the result.

It all started with a bottle of lychee liqueur, an interesting ingredient not often found in modern cocktails. The moment I took my first sip of this liqueur it hit me, this would be great with scotch and it took off from there.

I started with a rather traditional sour cocktail template. Combining strong, sour and sweet. Naturally it is built around oak notes of scotch and how they pair fantastically well with floral bitterness of the lychee liqueur, both ingredients supporting and balancing each other. At the same time lemon juice provides fresh bite and lightness. A slight hit of vanilla from Galliano helps to build the complexity of the cocktail together with the final layer of smoky Islay scotch. I have tried both layering Islay scotch on top and mixing it into the cocktail. Both worked quite well, but I prefer the float. It brings you on a sort of journey and lets the cocktail develop with first sips being quite boozy and getting sweeter and more complex over time. But be careful with the vanilla liqueur if you add a touch too much and it will turn the cocktail into overly sweet concoction.

Altogether Yellow Fog is one of the more complex cocktails I have created, combining and balancing many ingredients, each with strong flavours, but after enough testing it came together and formed a cohesive whole.

So here it is, my first scotch cocktail.