The Tequila Scout rebuilds the drink on reposado tequila and pear liqueur. Agave and pear is an unexpected, genuinely good pairing — the Talent Scout's spirit-and-liqueur template carried somewhere bright and orchard-fresh.
Agave and pear — a pairing nobody asks for, and everyone enjoys.
The Template Holds
The Talent Scout's structure — a base spirit lightly modified by a single liqueur and a dash of bitters — is endlessly portable. The Tequila Scout proves it, swapping both the spirit and the liqueur at once and still arriving at a balanced, recognisable drink.
Agave and Pear
Reposado tequila's gentle oak and bright agave meet the pear liqueur's soft orchard sweetness, and the two flatter one another — the pear rounding the agave's edges, the agave keeping the pear from cloying. It is a modern riff, and a clever one.
A Denver Riff
The Tequila Scout comes from the Denver bar scene — a bartender's adaptation of the template rather than a historic recipe. A lime wheel, rather than the original's lemon, finishes it, nodding to the agave base.
The Talent Scout Family
A 1951 Old Fashioned riff — bourbon, orange curaçao, and Angostura over a large cube.
- 2 1/4 ozBourbon
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
A 100-proof rye for the bourbon — drier, spicier, closer to a true Old Fashioned.
- 2 1/4 oz100-proof rye
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Chocolate-and-cinnamon mole bitters for the Angostura — nudged toward dessert.
- 2 1/4 ozBonded bourbon
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesMole bitters
French brandy for the bourbon — given the curaçao, almost the canonical version.
- 2 1/4 ozVSOP Cognac
- 1/2 ozOrange curaçao
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters