As we’ve shown, tiki cocktails need not only be rum. They can be tequila (hello Tropical Paloma), they can be moonshine (hey there Tropical Prohibition Paradise), but can you make them extra fancy with Scotch? Oh yes you can. We figured for National Scotch Day, which happens to fall right at the end of Tiki Month, we’d have to do just that. Let’s get a little Scotchy with the Luau Smoked Pineapple!

Before I get too far into this, I should start with a warning: if you didn’t get it from the intro, yes, we’re using Scotch in a cocktail. That means we’re taking your precious little sipper and blending it. AGHAST! BLASPHEMER!

Yeah, so, if you’re easily offended and a little uptight about your booze drinking habits, then you’re probably both reading the wrong site and maybe shouldn’t try this cocktail. Though, you might like our Margarita, it’s a very nice drink indeed — and almost standard (but better).

For the rest of us who remember that drinking should be fun, let’s dive into the Luau Smoked Pineapple!

Onto the Scotch! You’re going to need two of those. It is National Scotch Day after all, why have one when you can have two?

For your first one, I recommend a smoky, peaty, monster of flavor. Luckily for us, our friends over at Ardbeg sent us a sample of their Ardbeg Dark Cove, which was exactly what we needed. Rich, smoky, peaty, hints of sherry and citrus, yes, this will work nicely for what we’re building (that’s the smoked part from the luau).

With your second Scotch, we already have the smokiness covered, you need something a touch softer, but that will bring the entire flavor together: you need a quality blend. Luckily for us, our friends over at Syndicate sent us their Syndicate 58/6, which is a damn tasty blend. With this one, you’ll get some notes of grains, cinnamon, orange, a hint of smokiness — yeah, just enough to tie everything together.

We are talking about a luau here. Citrus, smokiness, character and flavor are all in order.

Now that we have our two Scotches handled (smoky and ultra complimentary), it’s time to bring together the rest of the party. To that, we’ll add pineapple juice, lime juice, lemon juice and orgeat (homemade, naturally).

Rather than just that list of ingredients, I’ll give you a little insight into what we were thinking with everything.

Ever had grilled pineapple? If not, I’ll pause while you do that. It’s epic. Hence, we knew pineapple would be a great backbone to go with our peaty Scotch.

Next was rounding out the brightness with the lemon and lime juices.

Then, we wanted to add a bit of richness, hence the orgeat. That worked to bring everything a little earthier richness (the almond flavor really worked in this one), which our final Scotch buddied up to and made more awesome. Turner, meet Hooch.

When you put it all together, will you offended some really snooty Scotch drinkers? Yeah, probably. And that’s totally cool. You know why? Because on National Scotch Day, it’s all about celebrating the awesomeness that is Scotch in all its forms, be it neat, with a single rock or even in a (if I do say so myself) damn fine tiki cocktail.

Now, to the Luau Smoked Pineapple!

 

July 27th, 2016 | by morgan