Cocktail recipe
Blood & Sand
Scotch, cherry, orange and vermouth make an improbably elegant four-way pact.
Ingredients
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) blended Scotch whisky
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) sweet red vermouth
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) cherry brandy liqueur (Cherry Heering style)
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) fresh orange juice
- Garnish: 1 orange twist
Preparation
Shake the four equal measures sharply with plenty of ice until the orange juice turns silky. Fine-strain into a chilled coupe, then express a fresh orange twist over the surface. The cherry liqueur should supply fruit depth, not an artificial syrup note.
Glassware
Chilled coupe
History
The Blood & Sand appears in Harry Craddock's *The Savoy Cocktail Book* (1930), with Scotch whisky, Italian vermouth, cherry brandy and orange juice. Its name is usually linked to the 1922 silent film *Blood and Sand*, starring Rudolph Valentino, itself adapted from Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's novel. That naming connection is plausible and widely repeated but does not identify an inventor; no reliably documented creator has been established. Some modern bartenders dry out the original equal-parts build by increasing Scotch or reducing the cherry component.
Mixology View
The original equal-parts formula deserves to be tasted on its own terms. We retain it as our editorial control recipe rather than quietly modernizing a historically distinctive drink.