madam

3/4 oz Swedish Punsch (Homemade)
1/2 oz Cherry Brandy (Cherry Heering)
2 dash Dry Vermouth (1/4 oz Noilly Prat)
1 dash Ojen or Absinthe (1 barspoon Herbsaint)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

On Tuesday night as I was making dinner, I flipped through Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 and spotted the Madam. This straight spirits drink intrigued me for it paired the spicy and rummy Swedish Punsch with cherry brandy which I interpreted as the rich Cherry Heering instead of the dry Kirsch. In addition, the small recipe size would give me an excuse to bring out some of our collection of smaller-sized vintage cocktail glasses. My only fear was that the drink was going to be too sweet.
The Madam's nose was cherry -- at least there was a part of her that was -- combined with a citrus note perhaps from the lemon-rind infused Swedish Punsch coupling with the citrus-peel containing dry vermouth. A sweet cherry sip was chased by a rum swallow punctuated with spicy notes from the Herbsaint and the Swedish Punsch's Batavia Arrack and spices. After a few sips, the Herbsaint's anise became a light, lingering flavor throughout the sip. Andrea enjoyed the drink which she felt made a decent aperitif despite its sweetness; she commented in regard to the spice notes that "this is a Madam with a wink!"