If there's one thing that's going to make a grown-ass dude squee out loud, it's discovering that a national newspaper named one of the bars you work in as one of the best places to drink in the country (I mean, not the best place to drink in the country but Dandelyan is amaze and I guess you don't get to be precious if you've won it before).

If there's one thing that's going to cause any pretence of humility evaporate, it's noticing that the two drinks highlighted in the previously-mentioned national newspaper are my recipes and also Ericka said it was OK.

The Walt Whitman's a drink we designed to answer a specific demand - Old Fashioneds are now a thing; not up to the level of a Mojito or a Cosmopolitan, but it's definitely an order that people will call without looking at a menu. Their popularity, I think, derives from them being delicious, versatile and available basically anywhere. The plan with what ended up as the Walt Whitman was to create something that would work for that guy who orders an Old Fashioned without thinking about it but is also a little more developed, a little more unique.

Walt Whitman
40ml Buffalo Trace bourbon
20ml Cocchi Aperitivo Americano
10ml Yellow Chartreuse
1 bsp Islay single malt whisky (your choice; originally I used Ardbeg Uigeadail)
Stir the first three ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled rocks glass over a large block of ice. Float the single malt.

The recipe's a bit of chimera - essentially, it's a bourbon-based Bobby Burns with a bit of steal from Sam Ross' Penicillin. There's sweetness from the Chartreuse, a hint of bitter from the Cocchi and I opted to keep it on bourbon to maintain that Old Fashioned feel and to provide a counterpoint to the single malt. The steal from the Penicillin comes in the idea that it starts rich and intense with the float but then starts to mellow out as you drink it.

Actually, I did a shift in Bramble a few months ago and a dude asked, "what can you tell me about the Walt Whitman?"

"It is," I said, "fucking delicious."