[new orleans style rye-madeira cocktail]

2 1/4 oz Rittenhouse Rye
3/4 oz Madeira (Blandy's 5 year)
2 dashes Bittermen's No. 9 Orange Bitters
Stirred with ice and strained into a rocks glass pre-rinsed with St. George's Absinthe. Orange peel twisted over the top of drink and then discarded.

For my last cocktail at Drink, I asked John what he could do with sherry, and he replied by asking what I thought of a Madeira and whiskey drink. I told him to go ahead without telling me any more. The drink he made me was tasty, but a little different from what I was expecting given the original two ingredients. The extra aspect was the St. George's absinthe, a new brandy-based absinthe weighing in at 60% alcohol. New turns out to mean "To be released December 21st"... and it will be the first domestic absinthe produced in almost a century. The packaging said to me "your drink needs more cowbell!" St. George is rather herbal and spicy without being killer on the anise flavor. The absinthe did dominate the flavor of this particular drink although not in a bad way. It took it from my primordial preconception to a rather New Orleans-style cocktail. Andrea thought that a Scotch rinse might have taken it more in the former direction bringing more emphasis to the base spirits but she too was happy with the drink as it was.