paul's own

1/3 Gin (1 oz Beefeater)
1/3 Dry Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat)
1/6 Cointreau (1/2 oz)
1/6 Curaçao (1/2 oz Senior Curaçao of Curaçao)
3 dash Fernet Branca (1 barspoon = 1/8 oz)

The instructions say shake but I stirred with ice and strained into a cocktail glass.

After returning home from ICOB, I was in the mood for a nightcap, so I opened up Ted Saucier's Bottom's Up and spotted the Paul's Own. The book provided a history that the recipe was created by B. Paul, the head barman at the American Bar at the Grosvenor House in London. In addition, the drink was awarded first prize in an international cocktail competition held in Vienna in 1927. The drink caught my eye for two reasons beside being an award winner. The first was that I found it curious that the orange liqueur quotient was split between a triple sec and a Curaçao. If the proportions were combined, the drink reminded me of a cross between a Contessa and a Patrician, two equal part Negroni variations created here in Boston. The second was that the small amount of Fernet Branca as a bitter accent to the drink reminded me of the Hanky Panky created by Ada Coleman at the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel a few years earlier around 1925.
The pair of orange liqueurs donated a sweet orange nose to the Paul's Own. The citrus continued on into the sip, and the swallow contained an orange peel note that led into the gin followed by the Fernet Branca flavors. Overall, the Paul's Own was very similar to a less gin-driven Don't Give Up the Ship as well as Eastern Standard's Heather in Queue.