cara-me-away

1 1/2 oz Ransom Old Tom Gin
1/2 oz Kümmel
1/2 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Leopold Maraschino Liqueur
2 dash Fee's Rhubarb Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a flamed lemon twist.

Several weeks ago when we were at the Citizen Public House, we were sitting next to a gentlemen and we began chatting. Turned out that it was Adam Grushey who manages the beverage program at the Church around the corner as well as the Regal Beagle in Coolidge Corner, Brookline. He recommended that I check out a drink that the Regal Beagle bartender Andy Holub had come up with for a Bombay Sapphire East competition. Unfortunately, Andy's drink lost to the handiwork of Local 149's John Mayer, but the combination of gin and kümmel drink had me curious. When I stopped into the Beagle, Andy described how despite the drink being created for a Bombay Sapphire event, the recipe really shined with Ransom's Old Tom Gin. He also opted for Leopold's new Maraschino liqueur; when he gave me a taste of it and Luxardo's product, Leopold's was fruitier to Luxardo's nuttier and funkier liqueur.
The lemon twist provided bright notes to the kümmel's caraway aroma. The sip was a combination of grape and cherry flavors, and the swallow offered the spice and herbal notes of the gin and kümmel and ended with a delightful cherry finish. Indeed, the balance of fruit to spice was rather well done in the Cara-Me-Away.