stone grant collins

1 1/2 oz Grant Amontillado Sherry
1 oz Sweetened Peach Purée (*)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Collins glass. Add 2 oz soda water, top with ice, and add a straw.
(*) Yellow peaches were mashed, simmered, and sweetened. I did not get the proportions, but from taste, 1 part sugar to 2 parts peach purée would probably suffice.

Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I paid a visit to Paul Manzelli at Bergamot's bar. For my first drink, I selected the Stone Grant Collins off of the cocktail menu. I was drawn to it for I remember how well stone fruits and sherry pair up such as in the Old Tom's Stone. While the Old Tom's Stone was mostly red plum in the form of a shrub, the Stone Grant Collins featured peach as a sweetened purée.
The Stone Grant Collins presented the peach in the aroma along with the sherry's grape notes. The sweet peach continued on in the sip where it was balanced by the lemon and crisp soda water. While the Amontillado's grape appeared on the sip, its nutty character rounded out the swallow; furthermore, over time, the peach flavors began shifting from the sip into the swallow. I was quite impressed at how well peach paired with the sherry, and the Collins format was perfect here as it was in another peach drink, the CLT Peche.