no. 65

2 oz Sazerac 6 Year Rye
3/4 oz Bonal
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1 dash Fee Brothers' Orange Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.

On Thursday right after work, I ventured down to Hungry Mother in Kendall Square to meet up with Washington, D.C.'s Jake Parrot and his wife who were visiting in town that week. For a drink, I requested the No. 65 from the cocktail menu. Bartender Ned described the sixty five as a play on the Manhattan with the dry Bonal quinquina being supplemented by the sugary falernum to approximate the original's sweet vermouth. A similar effect was achieved in Charles H. Baker's rum-based Georgetown Club Cocktail where dry vermouth was sweetened with falernum to generate a Pirate's Cocktail-like drink.
The No. 65 possessed a whiskey and Bonal aroma. A rye sip contained hints of bitterness and spice with a sweeter and cleansing swallow. Moreover, the swallow possessed a fair amount of spice including lingering clove notes and rye's barrel age and heat.