Grand Traverse Distillery's TC Roy

Bottoms Up

By Anna Faller | March 4, 2023

According to legend, the classic Rob Roy cocktail is named for Scottish outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor. Though we don’t condone thievery, we do encourage a round or two at Grand Traverse Distillery’s Tasting Room, where the gorgeously-balanced TC Roy has just arrived on the winter menu. A local take on the barroom original, the distillery’s script blends sweet vermouth (Piccolo Ditto from Brengman Brothers) with house-made orange bitters and their limited release Single Malt Whiskey, which distillers have smoked with cherry wood before aging in oak barrels for six years. Served atop a giant ice cube and topped with amaretto-soaked cherries, this sipper has a gently-smoked palette and fruity finish that meld so seamlessly it ought to be, well, illegal. Find the TC Roy ($14) at the Grand Traverse Distillery Tasting Room at 215 E. Front Street in Traverse City. (231) 946-1259, grandtraversedistillery.com