The Scofflaw Cocktail

Slightly sour with a sweet hint of pomegranate dancing around with a great rye whiskey! Add a bit of sweet vermouth, a good squeeze of fresh lemon and a dash or two of orange bitters and you’ve got a delightful and gorgeous cocktail ready to toast the holiday!

This is a beautiful cocktail that first debuted in the 1920s. It’s a delicious beverage created in Paris during the days of Prohibition. Scofflaw is a rather unusual name for a drink. Its name came from a term coined during a contest held in the 1920s and intended as a reference to any individual who chose to forgo the law of the land and “scoff at the law”. Though we would never suggest such a thing!

Start with a good rye whiskey then shake in some vermouth, fresh lemon juice, grenadine, a dash or two of orange bitters and for an extra punch of that fruity taste – a splash of pomegranate liqueur! My preference for the whiskey is Woody Creek Rye Whiskey. It’s an exquisite rye whiskey with exquisite notes of spice and oak. The bold flavor holds true in cocktails without an overwhelming presence.

The original recipe calls for dry vermouth and there is no mention of pomegranate liqueur. I used sweet vermouth and loved the result – but you can use your favorite. And I happened to have pomegranate liqueur on hand and since it’s still the holidays, I thought why not! It gives a nice boost to the pomegranate flavors in found in grenadine.

If you are entertaining a group, you can mix up a batch minus the ice and stash it in the fridge. Then when you’re ready to serve, simply pour it up in your coupes or if you’d like, into your shaker over ice, and shake until it’s really well chilled.

Here’s to a marvelous old cocktail and a wonderful way to spread some cheer!

The Scofflaw Cocktail

1/2 cup good rye whiskey

1/4 cup sweet vermouth

3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons grenadine

1/4 cup pomegranate liqueur

⅛ teaspoon orange bitters

Ice for shaking

Pour the rye whiskey into a cocktail shaker.

Add the vermouth, lemon juice along with the grenadine, pomegranate liqueur and the orange bitters.

Fill the shaker with ice, cover and shake vigorously until the cocktail is very cold.

Strain into coupe cocktail glasses.

Makes two 6-ounce cocktails or three 4-ounce cocktails.

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