malmsey flip

2 oz Blandy's 5 Year Malmsey Madeira
1/2 oz Maple Syrup
1/2 oz Angostura Bitters
1 Whole Egg

Shake once without and once with ice, strain into a large coupe glass, and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

After spotting Jacob Grier's PX Flip in the blog archives, I was curious if the same could be done with a sweet Madeira. Looking over the sugar content of the various fortified wines, I realized that Pedro Ximenez sherry has more than twice the sugar content of Malmsey Madeira (not to mention Madeira being balanced by a high acid content), so I figured that it needed to be sweetened somehow. For a first pass, I made this drink with demerara syrup and either Angostura or Peychaud's Bitters; the results were that demerara was not sweet enough and Angostura's Christmassy spice was superior here to Peychaud's absinthe-like feel. Instead of opting for a sweeter sugar syrup like simple, I selected maple syrup with the Fort Washington Flip in mind.
The Malsey Flip presented a nutmeg, clove, and maple bouquet to the nose. Next, the sip was a delightfully creamy grape and maple combination, and the swallow continued on with the maple flavors along with allspice, clove, and cinnamon notes.
Update: I discovered in November 2017 that the Livestock Tavern in Honolulu put this Flip on a short list of borrowed recipes along with ones from George Kappeler and Giuseppe Gonzalez!