Drink This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg Cocktail – How to Make It

Tale suggests that back in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English squad. To secure an advantage, he hosted a grand party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are notoriously substantial four-finger whisky servings, historically poured from pinky to forefinger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the following day. In this way, the story of the Patiala peg was born.

This take on a variation of Old Fashioned cocktail is inspired by that original concoction. At the restaurant, we present it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.

Ingredients

• 725g blended scotch whisky
• 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
• 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
• A small pinch of salt
• 2g xanthan gum powder

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a large bottle. Pour in 130g water, mix until fully incorporated, then put it in the refrigerator. It will now keep for as long as a few weeks.

When ready to drink, pour about 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass packed with ice (preferably one big block). Drink promptly. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.