El Scotcho: Whisk(e)y Wednesday presented by Lock & Key

El Scotcho at Lock & Key

Sometimes a whisky cocktail just hits the spot. Case and point - the entire cocktail menu at Lock & Key. The cocktails are divided into two sections: those who already love whiskey and want to taste it upfront and often... and those who have doubts about all forms of whisky and whiskey and might need some proverbial training wheels to get started on their brown liquor indulgence. One of those whiskey doubters cocktails is called El Scotcho. It is essentially a house made margarita that uses a peated, blended Scotch Whisky instead of tequila. Before you start crying foul, just think about a lot of the similarities between Scotch and tequila, especially good Scotch and good tequila. There is an earthy, smoky, characteristic to both liquors that actually shares more in common than one might think. So to make a margarita out of Scotch, while a little out of left field, most definitely works in this case.

El Scotcho takes Black Grouse peated blended Scotch and combines it with a little lemon, lime, Cointreau, agave nectar, a few dashes of Mexican mole bitters, and topped with ginger beer. The result is a refreshing and delicious whisky based cocktail that both whisky lovers and those trying to cut their teeth on the spirit can both enjoy!


Whisk(e)y Wednesday is a blog post series on Bite and Booze sponsored by the Lock & Key Whiskey Bar. Lock & Key has one of Baton Rouge's best selections of bourbon, Scotch, Irish, and other whisk(e)ys available for on premise consumption. This WW feature was scored by Jay Ducote and Blair Loup from Bite and Booze, Arthur Lauck from Lock & Key, and Jeremy Spikes. Scores are marked for Nose, Taste, Finish, and Balance and Complexity using our own proprietary scoring system. Marks are then added and averaged, leaving us with a final score out of a 100 point scale. Our scale should be looked at on the full range of 0-100 rather than an academic range where 70 is passing and anything less is failing. A 50 should be considered a very mediocre whisk(e)y (though not undrinkable) while anything below 20 is absolute horse piss and anything above 80 is rather extraordinary and anything above 90 is world class.