mary's liquor cabinet

2 oz Tanqueray Gin
1 oz Gran Classico
1 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dash Wormwood Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass painted with two streaks of Lillet reduction paint (post-rotovapping, boiled down). Garnish with an orange twist.

Last Wednesday, Andrea and I dropped into the bar at Clio to visit bartender Todd Maul. While looking over the new menu, Todd mentioned that he remembered a conversation we had last time about how certain gins like Tanqueray are less used in classic cocktails and more for Gin & Tonics. Therefore, he suggested I try the drink, Mary's Liquor Cabinet, that he developed using that gin. Mary is one of the other bartenders at Clio, and this tribute along with the cheekily named Mary's Sock Drawer, were made as collegial jokes. Like the Dwight Street Book Club, Todd utilized a flavor paint technique from boiling down rotovapped wine product leftovers.
The orange twist offered up some fresh citrus notes to the grapefruit and gin aroma. The citrussy sip led into a Campari-like Grand Classico swallow along with gin and wormwood notes. The Grand Classico started as a faint flavor at the beginning of the swallow and its presence grew over time on the drink's finish.