Tuesday, May 28, 2013

vagabond

2/3 Cascades Rye (1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse 100)
2 dash Dubonnet (1/2 oz Bonal)
2 dash Grenadine (1/2 oz)
2 dash Lemon (1/2 oz)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

After the Bottecchia, I opened up Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 and spotted the Vagabond. Since we do not have enough room in our fridge to carry two red wine-like quinquinas, I have been swapping Bonal for any call for Dubonnet lately with good results, and I decided to adapt the Vagabond recipe to my palate.
vagabond rye cocktail
The Vagabond greeted my nose with a lemon oil aroma that sometimes had more hints of rye and other times more hints of bitter grape notes. The malt-filled sip was fruity from the lemon, grape, and pomegranate elements, and the swallow offered up the rye that transitioned elegantly into Bonal's bitter herbal notes. With modern day American Dubonnet, the Vagabond would have been more like a Daisy, but with the Bonal, there was much added complexity.

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