Highland Fling

A Rob Roy cousin with a savory twist -- sweet vermouth and orange bitters balance the Scotch, while a single briny olive adds intrigue.

The Highland Fling is a Scotch cocktail named for the Highland Fling — the traditional Scottish solo dance performed at competitive Highland Games events, characterized by high kicks, precise footwork, and arm movements inspired by the antlers of a stag, danced originally on a warrior's shield according to romantic tradition. The dance has been documented in Scottish Highland culture since at least the 18th century and is a central competitive event at Highland Games gatherings held across Scotland and in Scottish diaspora communities worldwide. The cocktail combines Scotch whisky with sweet vermouth, orange bitters, and the unusual savory garnish of a green olive — a preparation that blends the Manhattan family's spirit-and-vermouth structure with the Martini family's olive garnish in a crossover that produces one of the more texturally interesting Scotch cocktails in the pre-Prohibition canon. The orange bitters' citrus aromatic and the olive's briny, slightly fatty savory note together create a flavor contrast against the Scotch's warmth and the sweet vermouth's herbal richness that makes the preparation more complex than its ingredient count suggests. The drink appeared in American and British cocktail guides from the early 20th century without consistent attribution to a specific creator.