Repeal And The Scofflaw

On Prohibition Day and Repeal Day I thank my lucky stars that I can decide for myself if a cocktail is in order this evening, and that some faceless bunch of bluenoses no longer blockades a significant element of American cuisine and culture. I make a particular effort to celebrate with a recipe that I’ve not experienced before, and Robert Hess’s recent Scofflaw post and backgrounder suggested the perfect classic for the day’s theme.

The story behind The Scofflaw is amusing, a nice little fillip from the American expatriates in Paris to needle the silliness of Prohibition–and, presumably, to make a little more money from the deal, too.

The Scofflaw Cocktail

But the drink’s name got me to pondering–what if Prohibition had not been Repealed? Would I be so eager, on any given evening, try my hand at building a new cocktail? To scoff? To make the potentially dangerous effort to gather the illicit ingredients required for said scoffing? Or to find and patronize speakeasies? As much as I can wish I had enough of a pirate’s soul to proceed unbothered, I think my innate stodginess would stand in the way. I can’t know for certain, but I think I would deal with the situation by becoming a more regular international traveler–Oh! Canada!

But the question, ”What if there were no repeal?”, is a first-rate whiskey-by-the-fireside problem to contemplate, and any number can play. The best part is that while we can never know the answer, the contemplation and speculation make an educational amusement, and even pursuing one tiny strand through history, culture, and economics can beg more questions than it can ever answer.

Here’s unanswerable question number one: who would have carried on our bourbon tradition? Is there any chance at all that we could still get quality bourbon in usable quantities? The moonshine economy couldn’t provide it, not proper barrel-cured whiskey; can you see moonshiners racking enough of the stuff for as long as it takes? Me neither. There is plenty of corn in the Ukraine and Georgia, along with plenty of wheat and rye, but whiskey just doesn’t seem to fit into the eastern European food chain. The Chinese corn crop is huge, but again, whiskey doesn’t seem to fit their economic models. In most of the world, crops and marketplaces just don’t seem to come together well enough to start and drive the bourbon industry, with one exception: Canada might have been able to make a bourbon industry thrive. Their whiskey industry was already well established when Prohibition came in, and I suspect they would have continued to develop as the keepers of the bourbon (and rye) flame. At least for those of us living in the northern tier of states, it is a pleasant thought. (Unanswerable question 1-A: How would the flavor of that whiskey have evolved, given different laws and climate?)

As for the Scofflaw itself (or “Scoff-law,” as the Savoy Cocktail Book would have it), there seem to be many versions in print, which strikes me as amusing for a drink with such a well-established provenance. Most of them follow the lines of Gary Regan’s Joy of Mixology presentation:

The Scofflaw Cocktail

• 2 oz rye or bourbon
• 1 oz dry vermouth
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ¼ oz grenadine
• dash orange bitters, to taste

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

(If you use the orange bitters, it is pleasant to express and garnish with an orange or lemon twist.)

The Savoy and the Hess recipe linked above suggest Canadian Club as the appropriate whiskey. I can only speculate that their choice is some sort of hat-tip to the Canadians for keeping the whiskey industry legal and healthy–and for providing an ample supply–during Prohibition. The CC version is certainly a lighter whiskey flavor, and very susceptible to Too Much Lemon. It reminds me more of an aperitif, especially with the greater proportion of vermouth. It might also be a nice introduction to whiskey drinks for those who are unsure of that path. As for its authenticity, it just doesn’t sound right…

So the Scofflaw raises a few Prohibition-inspired questions of its own: what whiskey would Harry’s New York Bar really have used in this drink in 1924, and from what label, and what source? There is much to learn…

“Repeal And The Scofflaw” at cold-glass.com : All text and photos © 2009 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.