remember the maine

2 oz Maker's Mark Bourbon
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth
2 tsp Cherry Brandy
1/2 tsp Absinthe or Pastis

Stir briskly in clock-wise fashion -- this makes it sea-going, presumably! A slightly different recipe calling for Rye can be found at The Cocktail Chronicles.

I keep wanting to add an exclamation point to the end of that name. This drink was published in The Gentleman's Companion by Charles H. Baker, Jr., and was named for the USS Maine's sinking on 15 February 1898 (thank god for iPhones; we would have been scratching our heads until we all got home, trying to remember that date). The drink? Despite the Bourbon it was really, really tasty. I'm not sure why I hadn't made one before.