Yeah, unless I’m in a bar that’s known for its cocktails, I normally play it safe. Even in bars that are known for cocktails, I still sometimes get the vermouth-atomizer when I order a martini. Hey, if I’d have wanted ice-cold gin, I’d have asked for it! (Campbell Apartment, I’m looking at you, dammit.)

I was at one of the Museum of the American Cocktail events back in the spring, and both Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich noted that when they look at the classic cocktail books, they frequently have to adjust the proportions to the modern palate. The older recipes are usually too sweet, they said.

How weird that Vermeire seems to have mixed up the Rob Roy and the Thistle. I don’t know enough to be 100% sure that the Thistle is more commonly made up of equal parts scotch and vermouth but that’s the recipe at Cocktaildb.com. I’d have to guess, though, that Vermeire’s 1:1 Rob Roy is one of the very few, if not the only one, with that ratio of scotch to vermouth. I’ve seen 3:2 Rob Roys but I’d say that most every other Rob Roy recipe I’ve seen before today was 2:1.

I guess that’s part of the “fun” of old cocktail books. I just picked up a copy of The Art of Mixing Drinks, a paperback version of the Esquire Drinks Books (’50s ed.). I’ve been amazed to see some of the non-standard recipes for standard, well-established cocktails. Off the top of my head, the worst offender was the Sazerac recipe. I don’t remember the details but it sure as hell wasn’t a Sazerac. What’s worse is that the drink listed just prior, the Saz, was, in fact, the standard Sazerac recipe. No wonder some of us stick to beer when we go out.

“Overlooked” is right. I’ve made many Rob Roys, a couple of them with that same Dewars I used for the Thistle. So I don’t know why I didn’t think to say that it’s basically a Rob Roy with bitters. Everybody has a bad day.

I don’t know the provenance of the Thistle, but I can answer your other question. Vermeire does indeed include a Rob Roy recipe, and it’s perhaps not what you’d expect:

Rob Roy Cocktail.

Fill the large bar glass half full of broken ice and add:

2 or 3 dashes of Gum Syrup or Curaçao.
1 or 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters.
1/4 gill of Scotch Whisky.
1/4 gill of French Vermouth.

Stir up well, strain into a cocktail-glass, add a cherry, and squeeze lemon-peel on top.

To be fair to Vermeire and to allow a better comparison of the two recipes, I’ll include here his Thistle:

Thistle Cocktail.

Fill the bar glass half full of broken ice and add:

2 dashes Angostura Bitters.
1/6 gill of Italian Vermouth.
2/6 gill of Scotch Whisky.

Stir up well, strain into a cocktail-glass, and squeeze lemon-peel on top.

This cocktail is also called a “York Cocktail.”

(That last comment about the York is Vermeire’s.)

I wonder if there’s a Thistle recipe in any of the cocktail books from the 1800’s. I suppose it’s possible that it was around prior to 1894. For what it’s worth, the Thistle recipe at Cocktaildb.com has the scotch to vermouth ratio at 1:1. Does the Vermeire book have a recipe for the Rob Roy? If so, what’s the scotch to vermouth ratio?

Basically, if you like a Manhattan, you should try this.

Seriously, though, Jimmy, I think I would say that it had lots of notes of warm spices – cinnamon, cloves that sort of thing going on. It went down real easy, that’s for sure.