self starter

3/4 oz Gin (No. 209)
1/2 oz Kina Lillet (Cocchi Americano)
1/4 oz Apricot Brandy (Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot)
2 dash Pernod (1/2 barspoon = 1/16 oz)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
For our second drink on Sunday night, Trader Vic's Self Starter from his 1948 edition of Bartender's Guide called out to me. The Savoy Cocktail Book has a similar recipe with relatively less apricot liqueur (1.5:.75:.25) which would have highlighted the delicious Cocchi Americano that we used in place of the Lillet more than the apricot. The nose started very licorice from the Pernod, and as the drink warmed up, it became more apricot and less pastis scented. The citrus peel flavors from the Cocchi Americano were in the front of the sip, gin in the middle, and apricot on the swallow. Moreover, the dashes of Pernod had a pleasant lingering flavor that worked rather well as it did not overpower the drink's balance.