Highland Fling #2

I've often considered this recipe to be a disaster waiting to happen. The idea of a sweet scotch drink with a Spanish olive sounds disgusting and I was steeling myself for what was to come when I ordered it. Luckily for me Eric Christiansen, the bartender at Irish Whiskey Public House on 19th Street, didn't bat an eye at this unusual order. He's obviously seen stranger things than olives in whiskey.

It also helped that Barrelhound is the most versatile scotch I've ever worked with. If you consider how it can melt away into the background like vodka--and I contest that it could be used in a Bloody Mary--then you can think of this drink as a lot like a Martinez. It's something of a vermouth cocktail and not really a sweet scotch drink. Then you can understand how this drink turned out well.

Barrelhound scotch is extremely forgiving for mixers, and that alone might make it a hit in the cocktail scene and with new home bartenders.

• 2 oz. scotch
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 3-5 dashes orange bitters
• Spanish Olive

Combine all ingredients except olive in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the olive.