Cold and cough cure with a bite!

I was looking for a liquer to make for christmas so I talked to my friend Fridtjof who is the manager of Bar Boca in Grünerløkka here in Oslo. Definitely my favourite bar in town. He suggested I make Rock and Rye as it doesn't need to be stored for too long and suits the christmas season. As an added bonus it turns out that it was an old cold and cough remedy in it's heyday.
The Memphis Medical Monthly tut-tutted that when a man “gets within twenty yards of the door of the saloon he commences coughing, and he puts his hand over his chest with an agonized expression and slips in the door and takes some ‘rock and rye.’”
If you too want to have a go making it here's the recipe Fridtjof gave me.
1 bottle of Rye whisky. (Not too easy to find in Norway so Fridtjof says use Seagrams 7 instead)
200g Rock candy
8cl Rum (slightly optional!)
!/4 Lemon
!/4 Orange
15 nails of cloves
1 big fat cinnamon stick
1 spoon of horsehound (Borremynte*) if you can find it!
Mix everything together in a jar and leave for a fortnight. That is except the Horehound that should just be put in a teaball and left in for a couple of hours just at the end.)
I just went to Bar Boca and had a Rock and Rye Toddy to be sure that i still liked it!! I did.
Serve with 1 part Rock and Rye and 2 parts boiling water, serve with a slice of lemon, orange or both and you have a perfect winter toddy.
Alternatively serve on the rocks mixed with a really good ginger beer (I recommend Fentimans)
Or just have a shot whenever you feel that little tickle in your throat :-)
*Borremynte kan godt sløyfes fordi den rett og slett er vanskelig å få tak i. Om du er flink eller sta kan du bestille fra www.Rolv.no. Stedet for alt du trenger av urter men ikke finner på supern!!!
CHEERS - SKÅL