Improved Penicillin
A Penicillin taken further: fresh ginger, a split or smoked base and a heavier peated float.
The Improved Penicillin is not a single drink with an author. It is the name bars give their upgraded version of Sam Ross’s 2005 Penicillin — fresh ginger instead of ginger syrup, a split base of blended Scotch and mezcal, or a heavier Islay float, sometimes honey-ginger cordial made in house. Because the spec changes from bar to bar, this entry describes the pattern rather than a canonical recipe, and it is flagged as disputed for that reason. The recipe below is the most common modern shape: blended Scotch, a little mezcal, honey-ginger, lemon and a peated float.
- House honey-ginger cordials and smoked floats became a marker of a serious bar programme in the 2010s.
- Penicillin (the 2005 original)
- Mezcal Penicillin
- Penicillin with an Islay float only
“The “improved” in the name follows the old cocktail-book convention of an Improved Whiskey Cocktail — an upgraded version, not a different family.”
Ingredients
- Blended Scotch40 ml
- Mezcal15 ml
- Honey-ginger syrup22.5 ml
- Lemon juice22.5 ml
- Peated Islay whisky7.5 ml, floated
- Candied gingerto garnish
Method
Shake the Scotch, mezcal, honey-ginger and lemon with ice, strain over a large cube in a rocks glass, float the peated whisky on top and garnish with candied ginger.
Rocks glass · one large cube · peated float