white hook

2 oz Bols Genever
1/2 oz Vya Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1 dash Regan's Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

On Thursday, we celebrated our wedding anniversary at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain, and on the way home, we swung by Lineage for a nightcap. Bartender Ryan Lotz was working at the bar that night, and I asked him to make me the White Hook off of the cocktail menu. The White Hook was Ryan's take on the Red Hook whereby he swapped the whiskey out for Genever and the Punt e Mes out for dry vermouth. These two changes removed the reddish-brown color from the original and left a similarly bodied but essentially clear cocktail remaining. Ryan mentioned that the idea for his variation on the Red Hook was inspired by Max Toste's White Manhattan at Deep Ellum.
Like most Genever drinks, the malt sung out on the nose, and this aroma was supplemented by the lemon oils from the twist. The Vya dry vermouth was robust enough to add to the flavor complexity of the sip and worked rather well with the Genever botanicals; moreover, the swallow had a healthy dose of the Maraschino liqueur notes. Overall, the White Hook reminded me a bit of Jerry Thomas' Improved Gin Cocktail.