Dragon’s Breath
The Dragon’s Breath is 50ml of Penderyn Welsh whisky and 10ml of honey syrup stirred together in a highball, filled with ice and topped with 100ml of ginger beer, with a lime wedge squeezed over and dropped in. About 2.3 UK units, made with Penderyn’s Madeira Finish (46% ABV). It is our house serve for St David’s Day, and it is a whisky buck: spirit lengthened with ginger beer and a little citrus. The ginger brings heat at the top of the sip, the honey rounds it, and Penderyn’s light, honeyed malt holds the middle without being buried. Other drinks have carried the name on quite different recipes. Ours takes it from the red dragon on the Welsh flag, and the fire is the ginger; there is no chilli in it. It needs no shaker, only a jigger, a bottle opener and one gentle stir.
Glassware: Highball Glass
Garnish: Lime wedge squeezed over the finished drink and dropped in
Ingredients
50ml
We pour the Madeira Finish (46% ABV); Legend, at 40%, makes a gentler glass. The house style is light, with honey, vanilla and citrus, so it stays legible under ginger where a heavier malt is lost.
10ml
Two parts honey to one of warm water, stirred until it runs clear. It rounds the ginger’s edges and echoes the honey in the whisky.
100ml
Brewed, with real heat; most bottles are soft drinks under 0.5% alcohol. At 100ml it sets the character of the glass, so a mild one gives a mild drink. Open it at the last moment.
Instructions
Add the Penderyn and honey syrup to a highball and stir until combined.
Fill the glass with cubed ice.
Top with 100ml of cold ginger beer.
Squeeze the lime wedge over the drink and drop it in.
Stir gently once.
Our version
Our own St David’s Day highball: 50ml Penderyn, 10ml honey syrup and 100ml ginger beer over ice, with a squeezed lime wedge. No published original; other drinks share the name on different recipes.
Source: our own specification. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Expert Tip
Use a brewed ginger beer with real bite. The mixer is 100ml of a 165ml drink, and a soft or sugary one leaves the Penderyn nothing to push against. Ginger ale is lighter and sweeter again and makes a thin glass. Stir the honey syrup into the whisky before the ice and ginger beer go in. Cold honey mixes slowly, and syrup poured in after the ginger beer sinks to the bottom and stays there. Open the ginger beer at the last moment and stir once. Carbonation is half the drink’s texture, and every extra turn of the spoon spends it.
Behind the Dragon’s Breath
Flavour Profile
A House Buck for the First of March
The Dragon’s Breath is our long serve for St David’s Day, for the guest who wants a Welsh whisky cold and tall rather than slow and neat. It is a buck: spirit lengthened with ginger beer and a little citrus, a format used with almost every spirit on the shelf. We put a Welsh single malt in it and add honey.
A Name From the Flag
The name is ours, taken from the red dragon on the Welsh flag. Other drinks have used it, on recipes with nothing in common with this one. Here the dragon is the ginger, and the breath is the lift of spice at the top of each sip before honey and malt take over.
Penderyn Holds the Middle
Penderyn is why the drink holds together at 50ml of spirit against 100ml of mixer. The distillery runs a single copper still designed by David Faraday, which collects spirit at an unusually high strength and gives a light, clean new make. The finished whisky carries honey, vanilla and citrus rather than weight or smoke.
Under ginger beer a heavy malt either disappears or argues. Penderyn stays legible, and its honey meets the syrup. Our default bottle is the Madeira Finish, bottled at 46% ABV, which leaves a longer, dried-fruit finish; Legend makes a softer glass.
Ginger, Honey, Lime
The ginger beer carries the drink’s name, so it cannot be timid. A brewed one brings real heat and enough body to stand up to the whisky. The 10ml of honey syrup rounds the ginger’s edges, as honey rounds lemon in a toddy, and the squeezed lime keeps sweetness and spice from settling into each other.
Between the Mule and the Penicillin
The Dragon’s Breath beside our Moscow Mule and Penicillin
Spirit
- Dragon’s Breath
- 50ml Penderyn
- Moscow Mule
- 45ml vodka
- Penicillin
- 60ml blended Scotch, 7.5ml Islay float
Honey
- Dragon’s Breath
- 10ml honey syrup
- Moscow Mule
- None
- Penicillin
- 22.5ml honey syrup
Ginger
- Dragon’s Breath
- 100ml ginger beer
- Moscow Mule
- 120ml ginger beer
- Penicillin
- Fresh ginger slices
Citrus
- Dragon’s Breath
- Lime wedge, squeezed
- Moscow Mule
- 10ml fresh lime
- Penicillin
- 22.5ml fresh lemon
Method
- Dragon’s Breath
- Built, stirred once
- Moscow Mule
- Built, stirred once
- Penicillin
- Shaken, over one large cube
UK units
- Dragon’s Breath
- About 2.3
- Moscow Mule
- About 1.8
- Penicillin
- About 2.7
| Element | Dragon’s Breath | Moscow Mule | Penicillin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirit | 50ml Penderyn | 45ml vodka | 60ml blended Scotch, 7.5ml Islay float |
| Honey | 10ml honey syrup | None | 22.5ml honey syrup |
| Ginger | 100ml ginger beer | 120ml ginger beer | Fresh ginger slices |
| Citrus | Lime wedge, squeezed | 10ml fresh lime | 22.5ml fresh lemon |
| Method | Built, stirred once | Built, stirred once | Shaken, over one large cube |
| UK units | About 2.3 | About 1.8 | About 2.7 |
The Moscow Mule is the plainest buck, with nothing between the vodka and the ginger. The Penicillin takes honey and ginger into a short, shaken drink. The Dragon’s Breath sits between them: long like the Mule, honeyed like the Penicillin, and led by a malt with more to say than vodka.
How to Serve It
In a highball full of cubed ice, with the lime wedge in the glass rather than on the rim, because its juice belongs in the drink. It needs no tools beyond a jigger and a bottle opener, which makes it easy to hand round when the room is full.
On a St David’s Day evening it sits beside the Welsh Gold, our stirred Penderyn drink, and the Snowdonia Sour, the shaken one.
Make it at home
The Spirit
Penderyn Welsh WhiskyPenderyn is a single malt whisky made by the Penderyn distillery in Wales, which first ran spirit in 2000 in a village in the Brecon Beacons foothills. Its signature Madeira bottling, aged in ex-bourbon barrels and finished in Madeira wine casks, is 46% ABV; the lighter Legend and Myth are 40%. We use it in three recipes, always pouring the Madeira bottling.
More to explore
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Dragon’s Breath spicy?
Ginger beer or ginger ale?
Can I use another whisky?
Is the Dragon’s Breath a traditional Welsh drink?
How is it different from a Penicillin?
Can I make it for a group?
How strong is a Dragon’s Breath?
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Where this one sits
Recipe by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 12 October 2026