manhattan bell-ringer

1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Simple Syrup
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1/2 wineglass Bourbon Whiskey (1 oz Bookers)
1/2 wineglass Vermouth (1 oz Vya Sweet)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass pre-rinsed with apricot liqueur (Rothman & Winter). Rub a piece of fresh cut lemon around the edge of the glass.

As I mentioned in the post about the Charlie Lindbergh, the apricot liqueur rinse was a signature move of James Maloney. Maloney's book, The Twentieth-Century Cocktail Guide for Mixing Fancy Drinks first published in 1900, has several variations of this rinse that he called a "bell-ringer." The one that I gave a try Wednesday last week was the Manhattan Bell-Ringer that I felt would satisfy Andrea's desire for a Bourbon drink.
The Manhattan Bell-Ringer began with a Bourbon, apricot, and lemon aroma. While the sip contained the vermouth's grape and the orange bitters flavors, the swallow showcased the Bourbon and spice with a hint of apricot on the finish. Overall, the drink was a little fruitier and sweeter than a regular fifty-fifty Manhattan, but it was still recognizable as a Manhattan. For the pisco fans, Paul Clarke recently wrote about the Pisco Bell-Ringer that did not make the cut for the 1900 edition of Maloney's book but appeared in the 1903 one.