You would be forgiven for looking at the ingredient list in a Blood & Sand and instantly state that you'll be giving it a hard pass.
It makes no logical sense how those four things could work together and the more you think about it, the less likely you are to ever come to a reasonable conclusion.
Trust us though, suspend your disbelief for a minute and try one. It's fantastic and one of the iconic Scotch cocktails for a reason....
The original recipe calls for equal parts, but we find it a touch too sweet, so we've upped the whisky to cut through it a little more. If it's too strong, reduce it a little.
The whisky component is surprisingly flexible when it comes to recipe. It can take a lot more booze (add an extra 20ml) if that's your preference, while if you are using a heavily peated or smokey malt it still works as an ensemble even when you reduce the ml to taste.
The Blood & Sand cocktail was named after a movie featuring silent movie star Rudolph Valentino. The narrative centres around an unfaithful bullfighter and his illicit affair, eventually culminating in his death in the ring.
The film was based on the novel by Vincente Blasco Ibáñez written at the turn of 1900’s and while there’s a lot that’s known (and debated) about the film and its merits - no-one really knows how the drink came out or who first invented it. The recipe first appears in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.
