madeira flip

1 oz Larressingle VSOP Armagnac
2 oz Blandy 15 Year Old Malmsey Madeira
1 Egg
1 1/2 - 2 oz Champagne

Shake Armagnac, Madeira, and egg with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Top with Champagne.

For my last drink at Rendezvous, I asked Scott Holliday for ideas on a Champagne cocktail and was wondering what he could do with Madeira. Scott said that Madeira made him more think of flips, but he then merged the two concepts into a royal flip (whole egg, whereas silver and golden flips are just egg white and yolk, respectively). Scott bolstered the alcohol content of the drink with an ounce of Armagnac to give the drink 3 distinct grape products.

Wow, the drink was indeed creamy and fizzy at the same time. Very rich with some of the Madeira's sharpness poking through the egg's smoothness. The Armagnac flavors were present but a little overwhelmed by the flavor dominance of the double volume of the Madeira. Thinking of other fortified wines, port would have proffered a smoother drink and perhaps sherry would have been an intermediary (although sherries run a wide gamut); however, those did not have the flavor profile I was originally inquiring about, and I was quite pleased with my choice after tasting the end result.