speakeater.
Mixologist · 2005 · Manhattan

Penicillin.

Sam Ross invented this in 2005 at Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side. The smoky float on top is the bridge between sweet and burned. It is.

Spirit
Blended Scotch
Glass
Old Fashioned
ABV
~24%
Prep
4 min
Era
Mixologist
Quick answer

The Penicillin is a mixologist cocktail from Manhattan, 2005. Built on blended scotch, served in a old fashioned, around 24% ABV. Sam Ross invented this in 2005 at Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side. The smoky float on top is the bridge between sweet and burned. It is the most-imitated modern cocktail of the 21st century.

Ingredients

What goes in a Penicillin?

Method

How do you make a Penicillin?

  1. Shake the blended Scotch, lemon, and honey-ginger syrup with ice.
  2. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
  3. Float the Islay single malt over the back of a bar spoon.
  4. Garnish with candied ginger.
Pair it with dinner Smoked brisket or applewood-smoked salmon. Double-smoke peat-on-peat.
Bartender's notes

What should you know before making a Penicillin?

History

Where did the Penicillin come from?

Sam Ross invented this in 2005 at Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side. The smoky float on top is the bridge between sweet and burned. It is the most-imitated modern cocktail of the 21st century. Ross has said the drink "writes itself once you taste it," because honey and Scotch and ginger are obvious in retrospect, only nobody had put them together before.

According to Sam Ross, Milk & Honey, New York, 2005.

Variations

What cocktails are similar to a Penicillin?

Peat in the Glass
Skip the float, build with all peated Scotch. A heavier, smokier version.
Mezcal Penicillin
Replace blended Scotch with mezcal joven. A 2010s craft-bar variation that builds on the smoke angle.
FAQ

Common questions.

What is in a Penicillin cocktail?

Two ounces of blended Scotch, three-quarters of an ounce of fresh lemon juice, three-quarters of an ounce of honey-ginger syrup, and a quarter-ounce of peated Islay single malt floated on top.

Who invented the Penicillin cocktail?

Sam Ross, an Australian bartender working at Milk & Honey on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in 2005.

What's the best Scotch for a Penicillin?

Famous Grouse or Dewar's for the body of the drink. Laphroaig 10 or Ardbeg 10 for the smoky float. Single malts get expensive fast; blended is correct here.

How do you make honey-ginger syrup?

Juice fresh ginger root through a fine strainer. Warm three parts honey with one part fresh ginger juice until fully combined. Cool. Refrigerate up to two weeks.

Kyle Schulgen Founder, Speakeater
Builder of Speakeater, the cooking app for people tired of asking what's for dinner. Hand-transcribes pre-Prohibition cocktail manuscripts as a hobby, ships them in the app's cellar.
Last updated: 2026-05-02

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