buckminster

1 1/2 oz Gordon's Gin
3/4 oz Maurin Quina
3/4 oz Lillet Blanc
2 dash Fee Brothers' Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Two Wednesdays ago, Andrea and I stopped into Highland Kitchen where bartenders Joe McGuirk and Nathan Bice were behind the stick. Over the sound of Karaoke, I asked Bice for the Buckminster. What attracted me was the use of Maurin Quina, a cherry, almond, and quinine-flavored aperitif wine that was so delicious in the Independent's This, That, the Other and Rendezvous' Tequila Scaffa.
The Buckminster offered up an orange and cherry aroma that gained almond notes as the drink warmed up. The citrus and cherry sip was followed by gin, herbal notes, and almond on the swallow. Overall, the drink had a light aesthetic that reminded me of the Abbey Cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail Book.