lawhill cocktail

2 oz Old Overholt Rye
1/2 oz Noilly Prat Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
2 barspoons St. George's Absinthe
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist a lemon over the top and discard.

For my second cocktail at Drink last night, Misty stayed with the rye and brought out her version of the Lawhill Cocktail, a drink that appears in the 1930's version of the Savoy. The Savoy's version is 2/3 Canadian Club Whiskey, 1/3 French vermouth, 1 dash each of absinthe, Maraschino, and Angostura bitters. Misty shifted the drink away from the Scotch-like flavors associated with Canadian whiskey by using the less aggressive Old Overholt Rye. Her other modifications included upping the Maraschino and absinthe, although dashes of liqueurs historically have been more vague a volume and more sizable than dashes of bitters (which still have a bit of variance depending on the size and fill-level of the bottle and heaviness of the hand, but not to the same degree as with liqueurs).

The St. George's Absinthe cut the sweetness of the Luxardo Maraschino quite well; often, Maraschino-laden cocktails can be too sweet for my palate which was not the case with the Lawhill. The absinthe might have also been assisted by the dry vermouth in this regard. Overall, the cocktail was nicely balanced. The St. George was not as dominant as the previous cocktail I had made with it perhaps due to sherry in that one not being as robust a component as Maraschino.