mountain

1 1/2 oz Rye (Jim Beam)
3/4 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3 dash Angostura Bitters
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a cherry (Luxardo Maraschino). I opted for a lemon twist (discarded, not dropped) as well.
On Sunday night after hiking around all day at Dogtown in Gloucester, it was time for a cocktail. Flipping through Cocktails by Jimmy of Ciro's 1930 reprint, I found the perfect transition from the pink and sweet egg drinks I had been having. The Mountain was a rather dry and orange-brown looking recipe which seemed like it had a refreshing balance to it. Indeed, the drink was tartly lemon and rather dry. The rye whiskey flavors appeared on the swallow and the egg smoothed out its rough edges. Anticipating this effect, I opted for the slightly rougher Jim Beam Rye for the recipe over some of the smoother or more expensive ryes in our collection. The oils from the lemon twist I appended on to the recipe added a great citrus nose over the thick layer of foam on the Mountain. Other recipes for the Mountain exist including ones that add a bit of sweetness through the use of some sweet vermouth (although a splash of simple syrup could sweeten the above recipe up if need be) as well as others that bear no resemblance the one in Ciro's recipe book at all.