[presidente-like cocktail]

2 oz Barbancourt Rhum
1/2 oz Creole Shrub
1/2 oz Carpano Antica Vermouth
1 d Fee's Aromatic Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

On Monday night, Andrea and I went to Eastern Standard for dinner and drinks. We were warmly greeted by Kevin Martin who told us about his experiences at the bartender exchange with Please Don't Tell (NYC) and showed us the bottle of Carpano Antica from his travels. Carpano Antica is a vermouth from the same people who make Punt e Mes and tries to recreate Antonio Benedetto Carpano's original recipe for vermouth from 1786. We got to taste some before asking to have cocktails made with it; we were not going to let the opportunity slip away since we have not seen it anywhere here in Boston.

My request for a rum and Carpano Antica cocktail was returned with this unnamed creation. The Creole Shrub added a subtle orange flavor to the cocktail. Compared to a Presidente which uses dry vermouth, the Carpano Antica exerted a little dominance over the Creole Shrub but was well balanced with the rum.