mother's little helper

1 oz Bols Genever
1 oz Alvear Pale Cream Sherry (Lustau East India Solera)
3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Combier Triple Sec (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
1 tsp St. Germain (St. Elder)
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.Two Fridays prior, I turned to The NoMad Cocktail Book and was lured in by the Genever drink called Mother's Little Helper. This drink created by Jessica Gonzalez began with a grape, orange, and malty aroma. Next, grape and malt on the sip set up malty, orange, and floral flavors on the swallow.

the thin veil

1 1/2 oz Bourbon (Wild Turkey 101°)
1 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau)
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
1/2 oz Cruzan Black Strap Rum
1/4 oz Cynar
1 bsp Nocino (Russo)
1 dash Bittermens Burlesque Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a cherry.Two Thursdays ago, I returned to Amanda Schuster's New York Cocktails book and stumbled across the Thin Veil that I had never made before. This recipe was crafted by bartender Bryan Teoh for his friend's band Tin Veil. Once assembled, the Thin Veil proffered molasses, cherry, and nutty notes to the nose. Next, grape and caramel harmonized on the sip, and the swallow drifted into Bourbon, nutty, and cherry flavors.

dutch charlie's cocktail

40% Rye Whiskey (1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse)
40% Dubonnet (1 1/2 oz)
20% Regular Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat Sweet)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Wednesdays ago, I selected the 1933 reprint of Jack's Manual and spotted the curiously named Dutch Charlie's Cocktail. The name reminded me of a Dutch Schultz drink, and it was not obvious which Dutch Charlie in history that it referred to. I became intrigued by the name for it reminded me of the nicknames of Andrea's dad's drinking buddies out in Indiana. My favorite historical one was the late 1870s gang member out in the West who ran with Big Nose George Parrott's crew; that Dutch Charlie got caught after a robbery, and, according to the True West site, "while he was being transported from Laramie to Rawlins, the train stopped to take on water [and] an angry mob stormed the railcar, took Charlie and strung him up from a telegraph pole. The lynch party figured Dutch Charlie didn't deserve to be buried in their cemetery so they carted his carcass some distance away and left him in an unmarked grave." Not very likely that author Jacob Grohusko knew about him and it was probably a drink served to a regular, but anything is possible.
There was little confusion about how this drink would turn out though for it read like a slightly inverse Manhattan with two parts Dubonnet to one part sweet vermouth. In the glass, the Dutch Charlie's Cocktail proffered rye, plum, and cherry aromas. Next, grape and plum on the sip slid into rye, dried red fruit, clove, and allspice flavors on the swallow.

frank hinton

2 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt 86°)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Campari
1/4 oz Raspberry Syrup
1/4 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a blood orange twist (regular orange twist).Two Tuesdays ago, I was scanning the Kindred Cocktails database when I came across Rafa Garcia Febles' Frank Hinton that he crafted in New York City in 2013. This Boulevardier/1794 riff added in fruity elements from passion fruit and raspberry syrup, and I was just as intrigued about how it would taste as I was to the identity of the namesake (I asked Rafa with no reply -- the best I can tell is that there is a musician and an author by that name). In the glass, the Frank Hinton donated orange and chocolate aromas to the nose. Next, grape, berry, and nectarine notes on the sip transformed into rye, bitter orange, and tropical berry flavors on the swallow.

marguerite

50% Plymouth Gin (1 1/2 oz Bombay Dry)
50% Dry Vermouth (1 1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 dash Absinthe (12 drop Copper & Kings)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an olive (lemon twist).Two Mondays ago, I began flipping through the pages of my 1933 reprint of Jack's Manual when I spotted the Martini precursor, the Marguerite. The book sourced this recipe from Henry Johnson's 1900 New and Improved Bartenders' Manual swapping the anisette and lemon twist for absinthe and olive here. Later versions of the Marguerite such as in the 1904 Stuart's Fancy Drinks dropped the anisette/absinthe component to become closer to the classic Martini. This Marguerite with absinthe and lemon twist presented a lemon, pine, and licorice aroma. Next, a crisp sip led into gin, white grape, orange, licorice, and anise flavors on the swallow.

handcuffed lightning

3/4 oz Smith & Cross Rum
3/4 oz Cognac (Pierre Ferrand Ambre)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Swedish Punsch (Kronan)
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Sundays ago, I thought about the Swedish punsch-apricot liqueur combination that I first discovered in the Havana Cocktail as well as the apricot-Punt e Mes duo found in the Slope. The other combination in the trio of Punt e Mes-Swedish Punsch occured in Tony Iamunno's Butterfly Sting, and I decided to riff on that Muhammed Ali tribute. For a spirit base, I split things up with a funky Jamaican rum and a rich Cognac, and for a name, I opted for the Handcuffed Lightning from Ali's quote, "I done wrestled with an alligator, I done tussled with a whale; handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail; only last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick; I'm so mean I make medicine sick."The Handcuffed Lightning shot forth with an orange, apricot, and rum funk bouquet. Next, caramel and grape swirled on the sip, and the swallow thundered out with Cognac, funky rum, apricot, tea, and rounded bitterness on the swallow with a clove, smoke, and funk finish.

mad max

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1 oz Cynar
1 oz Aperol

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Saturdays ago, I spotted the Mad Max on Kindred Cocktails that was crafted at Kingfish in New Orleans circa 2016. Given that the Cynar-Aperol duo has been a win before in the Rucola Negroni, Juan Bautista, and The Scottish Play, I was game to give this rye drink a spin. Here, the Mad Max met the nose with an orange, caramel, fruity, and herbal bouquet. Next, caramel and orange notes on the sip fled into rye, funky herbal, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow.

slow motion

2 oz Angel's Envy Bourbon
1/2 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz Amaro Nardini

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.Two Fridays ago, I paid a visit to Yvonne's to provide a staff training on Angel's Envy. Afterwards, I found a seat at the library bar and asked bartender Sam Lee for something in the Manhattan realm using Angel's Envy Bourbon. He modified that Slow Motion on the menu that sounded delightful with Amaro Nardini and Lustau East India Solera Sherry. Once prepared, the Slow Motion proffered orange and caramel aromas to the nose. Next, caramel and grape on the sip crept into Bourbon, caramel, nutty, and herbal flavors with a hint of woodiness and mint on the swallow.

the bowery

2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse Bonded)
1/2 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
1/4 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
1/4 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe pre-rinsed with absinthe (Copper & Kings), and garnish with an orange twist.Two Fridays ago, I recalled how I saw Rachel at Backbar making Eric Alperin's Skid Row as a bartender's whim, and I was inspired to riff on it. I swapped the Genever for rye, kept the Ramazzotti and apricot liqueur, and supplemented the notes with sherry and absinthe. For a name, I dubbed this one the Bowery after one of the historical skid rows in Manhattan. Here, the Bowery gave forth an orange, dried apricot, and anise nose. Next, malt, grape, and dried fruit on the sip led into rye, nutty, and bitter apricot flavors on the swallow with an anise finish.