Scotch Collins

Scotch whisky takes the starring role in this effortlessly refreshing Collins -- tart lemon, a whisper of sweetness, and a long fizzy finish.

The Scotch Collins applies the Collins family's foundational structure — spirit, fresh lemon juice, sugar syrup, and soda water in a tall glass over ice — to Scotch whisky, creating a long drink that showcases the grain spirit's aromatic complexity in an accessible, refreshing format. The Collins format takes its name from John Collins, a head waiter at Limmer's Hotel on Conduit Street in Mayfair, London, who served a similar preparation in the early 19th century, and the family expanded through the mid-to-late 19th century as American and European bartenders substituted different base spirits for gin. The Scottish adaptation is sometimes called a Sandy Collins or Jock Collins in Scotland, both names using colloquial Scottish masculine given names in the same way that Tom Collins uses the English Tom. Scotch whisky's interaction with fresh lemon juice is notably different from gin's: where gin's juniper botanicals create a defined tension with citric acid, Scotch's grain and malt character produces a more rounded, less confrontational sourness that allows the whisky's own aromatic complexity to be more audible through the lemon and soda. The format is well-suited to introducing Scotch whisky drinkers accustomed to neat or on-the-rocks service to the spirit's cocktail applications.