pequod sour

Juice of 1/2 Lemon (1/2 oz Lemon Juice)
One-half spoon Sugar (1 tsp)
Two sprigs Mint
One-half Water (3/4 oz)
One jigger Whisky (1 1/2 oz Sazerac 6 Year)

Stir juice, water, mint, and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Add whiskey and stir again. I opted to remove the mint and pour into a glass. The original recipe calls for garnishing with fruit but I went with a fresh mint sprig instead. This is a room temperature drink.

Two Tuesdays ago, I was flipping through the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book and spotted another room temperature drink since the Creole Lady I found there last time was so delightful. While most room temperature drinks are spirits based, the Pequod Sour incorporates citrus into the mix. Pequod was the name of Captain Ahab's fictitious whaling ship in Herman Melville's Moby Dick and derived from the Pequot Indian tribe that inhabited parts of New England not terribly far from where the Waldorf-Astoria stands in New York.
The Pequod Sour presented a rye and mint aroma that led into a somewhat tart malt and lemon sip. The drink smoothed out on the swallow and showcased the rye's barrel notes and ended with mint. Overall, the Pequod Sour was simple but elegant, and the addition of water certainly aided in softening the drink.