king of the road

1 oz Hennessy VS Cognac
1 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1 barspoon Crème Yvette (1/8 oz)

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. The recipe I received stated no garnish and reflected the drink I was served, but one I found on the web listed the gin as 3/4 oz and a blackberry on a pick as the garnish. The Roger Room regularly has the drink on their menu with Plymouth Gin.

On Friday night at Tales was the infamous Bar Room Brawl. Competing in a 5-way mix off were Boston's Eastern Standard, Chicago's Sable, Portland's Teardrop, Los Angeles' Roger Room, and San Francisco's Burritt Room. As I made my rounds, there were two drinks I picked out for sharing here. The first one was the King of the Road created by bartender Damian Windsor; many thanks to Roger Room's Jason Bran who replied to my Twitter request and emailed me the proportions. Overall, the recipe resembled the dry vermouth variation of a Blue Moon or a perhaps a Trilby with the base spirits split between gin and brandy.
Despite there being only a barspoon of Crème Yvette, the drink possessed an attractive reddish purplish hue that was quite pleasing to the eye. The Dolin Blanc definitely tied the drink together for it added sweetness to smooth out the Cognac and gin; in addition, it contributed floral notes that worked rather well to complement the Yvette. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to try the three other drinks that the Roger Room was serving up that night, but I was able to read about them here.