delores park swizzle

1 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
1 oz Tequila (Lunazul Reposado)
3/4 oz Ginger Syrup (Homemade)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins or Pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Swizzle to mix. Top with 4 dashes of aromatic bitters (Fee's Whiskey Barrel) and garnish lavishly with mint. Add a straw.

One of the media lunches at Tales of the Cocktail was hosted by the Secret Sherry Society. At that event, they handed out booklets with the semi-finalist recipes for last fall's Vinos de Jerez (Sherry) Cocktail Competition. Included in the listing were two Boston ones: Misty Kalkofen's Dunaway that Misty made Andrea last year, and Corey Bunnewith's Balao Swizzle which we made a few days ago and will write about soon. On Tuesday a week and a half ago, the Delores Park Swizzle, created by Thomas Waugh of Manhattan's Death & Co., matched our mood that night and got the green light.

The swizzle started with an aroma of sherry paired with mint. Sherry also appeared on the front of the sip along with a sweet lime flavor, and the swallow was a complementary dose of ginger and tequila that rounded out the drink quite nicely. After a few sips, the ginger's spice and the sherry's nuttiness pleasantly began to linger on the tongue, and after several more sips, the cinnamon notes from the floated aromatic bitters began to enter into the equation.