The Rob Roy recipe
for your table
Put the cocktail glass in the freezer for fifteen minutes, or fill it with ice and water while you mix. A pre-chilled glass keeps the cocktail at the right temperature longer, and that makes more difference than an extra cube in the mixing glass.
Add the scotch, sweet red vermouth, and two dashes of Angostura to a mixing glass and fill it two-thirds full with large ice cubes. Large cubes melt more slowly, so the drink gets less diluted.
Stir for fifteen to twenty seconds with a bar spoon along the side until the mixing glass fogs up on the outside. Stir, don’t shake: this keeps the drink clear and prevents air bubbles from forming.
Discard the ice from the cocktail glass, strain the cocktail into it using a Hawthorne strainer, and add a cocktail cherry. Serve immediately, because from now on the temperature will only rise.
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The story
The Rob Roy exists because someone replaced the rye in a Manhattan with Scotch. That sounds like a small change, but it transforms the entire cocktail: rye is spicy and dry, bourbon is sweet and full-bodied, and Scotch brings malt and sometimes smoke. The sweet vermouth and Angostura stay the same, so the drink depends entirely on the choice of bottle. The most commonly cited explanation for the name is that it was named after a Broadway operetta about Rob Roy, the Scottish folk hero. Who served it first cannot be said with certainty.
The right glass
A Rob Roy is served without ice in the glass, so the glass itself has to retain the chill. This works best with a smaller bowl on a long stem: less surface area to absorb heat, and your hand stays away from the drink. A Nick and Nora of around 15 cl is the most comfortable size for this, because the cocktail comes just below the rim instead of sitting in a half-empty glass exposed to the air. The classic V-shaped martini bowl works too and is more recognizable, but it is wider and spills more easily. More shapes can be found in the Nick and Nora glasses collection.
Bormioli Rocco Novecento Cocktail Glass 15.5 cl Nick and Nora (4 pieces)
Royal Leerdam Cocktail Martini Glass 26 cl (4 pieces)
Both sets together € 46,90.
The right tools
For a Rob Roy, alongside the glass, you use a mixing glass for stirring, a bar spoon with a long handle, and a Hawthorne strainer to hold back the ice. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 3 bar tools together € 61,80.
What do you make a Rob Roy with?
For a Rob Roy, you need blended whisky from Scotland, plus sweet red vermouth and Angostura. With bourbon or Jameson, it becomes a different cocktail. On every liquor page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it works with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
Made with dry vermouth instead of sweet, it is called a dry Rob Roy: sharper, spicier and much less rounded. Use one centiliter of each and you have a perfect Rob Roy, exactly between the two. You can also replace the Angostura with orange bitters, and if you find the cherry too sweet, express an orange peel over it. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Chilling the glass in the freezer beforehand makes the biggest difference. Then choose the bottle deliberately: a smoky Islay Scotch puts the smoke front and center and overwhelms the vermouth, while a soft Speyside lets the malt and fruit work together with the sweet vermouth. Keep an opened bottle of vermouth in the refrigerator, because it deteriorates as soon as air gets to it.
Good to know
A Manhattan with Scotch, nothing more
The Rob Roy has no fixed proportions: it is a Manhattan in which the rye or bourbon is replaced with Scotch. Five centiliters of whisky, two centiliters of sweet red vermouth, two dashes of Angostura, stirred and strained. Anyone who knows those three knows the Rob Roy.
Why you stir instead of shake
Shaking adds air and ice shards to the drink, making it cloudy and foamy. For a cocktail made only with spirits and vermouth, you want a clear, dense liquid without bubbles. Stirring cools it just as well, only more gently: fifteen to twenty seconds along the side of the glass is enough.
Dry, sweet and perfect
Sweet is the standard, using only sweet red vermouth. Dry uses dry vermouth and produces a drier, spicier cocktail. Perfect uses half of each and combines the roundness of sweet vermouth with the sharpness of dry vermouth. The garnish changes too: a lemon peel suits the dry version better than a cherry.
Islay or Speyside makes a difference
Scotch is not a uniform flavor. A bottle from Islay can be intensely peaty and smoky, and that smoke will take center stage in a Rob Roy: the vermouth disappears beneath it. A softer Speyside with malt, apple, and vanilla leaves room for the vermouth and bitters. Start with a blended Scotch, as it is balanced for this.
The glass should be ice-cold
There is no ice in the glass, so the cold you have built up in the mixing glass needs to stay in the glass. A room-temperature glass loses most of it in a few seconds. Use a freezer, or otherwise fill it with ice and water for a few minutes.
Where the name comes from
The most commonly cited explanation is that the cocktail was named after a Broadway operetta about Rob Roy, the Scottish folk hero. Who created it and exactly when is not established, so we will stick to that one explanation and give no year.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a Rob Roy and a Manhattan?
The whisky. A Manhattan is made with rye or bourbon, while a Rob Roy is made with Scotch. The rest of the recipe is the same: sweet red vermouth, two dashes of Angostura, stirred and strained into a chilled glass.
Should you stir or shake a Rob Roy?
Stir. There is no juice, cream, or egg white, so you want a clear drink without air bubbles. Stirring for fifteen to twenty seconds with plenty of ice cools it enough without making the cocktail cloudy.
Which Scotch do you use for a Rob Roy?
A blended Scotch is the safest choice because it is balanced and does not overpower the vermouth. A smoky Islay makes a much smokier drink, while a soft Speyside stays closer to the original.
What is a dry Rob Roy?
A Rob Roy made with dry vermouth instead of sweet red vermouth. This makes it drier and spicier. Using half of each type of vermouth makes it a perfect Rob Roy.
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