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

Folklore has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was adamant that his team would succeed over a touring English side. To secure an advantage, he threw a splendid party the night before the match, at which he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are incredibly large four-finger whisky pours, traditionally measured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players drank too much, resulting in them being very the worse for wear and, consequently, defeated the next day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg originated.

This inspired kind-of Old Fashioned cocktail takes its cue from the Maharaja's concoction. Here, we offer it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adapted the formula to make it more suitable for a household kitchen.

Patiala Peg

Produces 1 litre, enough for 10-12 drinks.

Ingredients

• 725g blended scotch whisky
• 130g sugar syrup
• 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
• 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
• A dash of salt
• 2g xanthan gum

Method

Combine everything in a large bottle. Add 130g water, agitate to combine, then place it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as 21 days.

To serve, dispense roughly 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a rocks glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Drink promptly. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.