Fleming Fizz

This winter cocktail is a cross between a Penicillin and a French 75. I've always thought that the Penicillin, with its ginger and honey, was the perfect whiskey sour for winter - and that many sparkling cocktails felt too light and springy for the colder months. I dubbed this tribute the Fleming Fizz in honour of Sir Alexander Fleming, the Scottish scientist who discovered penicillin antibiotics. This is a bold, spicy cocktail for Scotch lovers - if you prefer your ginger a little less pungent, add ¼ cup additional water and ¼ cup additional honey to the syrup. Extra syrup is excellent for sweetening tea, a hot toddy, or cocoa.

Ginger Honey Syrup:
½ cup (2½ oz) fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped (70 g)
½ cup honey

Cocktail:
1½ oz blended Scotch
¾ oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ oz Ginger Honey Syrup
2 oz sparkling wine, chilled

To Serve:
½ tsp. smoky Scotch, such as Laphroaig
lemon twist and candied ginger on a pick

For the Ginger Honey Syrup:
Combine ginger and ½ cup water in a blender and blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup, pressing on solids to extract juice. Pour ½ cup of the ginger juice into a large resealable jar and stir in honey. (If you'd like to tone down the ginger a bit, add additional ¼ cup honey and ¼ cup water.) Seal jar tightly and shake until honey is completely dissolved (or rinse out blender and blend ginger juice and honey together to mix.)

Makes enough for 10 cocktails. Syrup will keep 2 weeks in the refrigerator; shake well before using.

For the Cocktail:
Combine blended Scotch, lemon juice, and Ginger-Honey Syrup in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake until well chilled. Add sparkling wine to a flute glass, then strain cocktail into glass. Gently float smoky Scotch on top of drink. Garnish with lemon twist and candied ginger.

Makes 1 cocktail.