viking funeral

1 oz North Shore Aquavit
1 oz Luxardo Amaro Abano
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White

Dry shake, add ice, and shake again. Double strain into a wine glass.

While finishing up my Green Jacket at the Whistler in Chicago, bartender Paul McGee recommended that I try the Viking Funeral. With an egg white Sour base, the drink used a combination of North Shore's Aquavit and Luxardo Amaro Abano as the spirit. For the former, I remember contacting and hunting out Sonja Kassebaum of North Shore Distillery (and the Thinking of Drinking blog) during Tales of the Cocktail in 2009 for a sample of their aquavit, and it was definitely worth the effort. At first, I was a little surprised to see it being served since we never see it on menus, until I realized that we were a stone's throw from the distillery. Hopefully, their spirits make it out east for their gin is one of my favorites. The latter, the Luxardo Amaro Abano, has been described as cardamom, cinnamon, and bitter orange peel forward. Given the egg white and aquavit components, perhaps another dark amaro like Averna or Rammazzotti could be substituted in a pinch without altering the drink too much.
The Viking Funeral presented a caraway and dark herbal aroma from the aquavit and amaro, respectively. While the sip was lemony, the swallow was a pleasing caraway flavor supplemented by a rich herbal swallow from the liqueur. Shortly after finishing the Viking Funeral, we had to bid adieu for it was time to make the drive over to Midway Airport to catch our flight home, and luckily there was no traffic so we made it there in time. Hopefully, Andrea will write up the drink she had, the Roman Spring, in the next few days. And thank you to Paul and the other bartenders at the Whistler for their hospitality during our whirlwind visit.