the only edward

1 1/2 oz Redbreast 12 Year Irish Whiskey
3/4 oz Bertagnolli Grappa di Teraldgeo
3/4 oz Zucca Liqueur
2 dash Chamomile Extract

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with lemon oil from a twist.

While enjoying my Northern Lights, Drink bartenders Tyler Wang and Will Thompson (*) were there along with No. 9 Park's Ted Kilpatrick on our side of the bar. The conversation drifted to William Schmidt (a/k/a the Only William) and our collective excitement over the recipes in his 1892 book The Flowing Bowl. When it came time for my second drink, bartender Ted Gallagher described a recipe he had been tinkering with that he wanted me to try. It lacked a name, and therefore, the discussion of the 19th century cocktail book flowed over, and the drink later got dubbed "The Only Edward."
The drink called for a grappa which gave me pause for many grappas are fierce and fiery spirits. When Ted reassured me by letting me have a taste of the Grappa di Teraldgeo, it was rather pleasant and had notes of freshly cut grass without any degree of harshness save for the proof. Thus, the Only Edward began with lemon oils from the twist, and the sip was malty from the Irish Whiskey and full of melon-citrus notes from the grappa interacting with the other ingredients. Next, the swallow contained floral and vegetal elements from the chamomile infusion and Zucca liqueur. Indeed, the Irish whiskey worked beautifully here for its softness allowed the other elements to shine in ways that an similar portion of Scotch or rye would obscure.

(*) Will Thompson uttered the quote of the night which was, "Fernet Branca: it tastes like a cough drop that is mad at you."