saucy sue

1 1/2 oz Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
1 1/2 oz Laird's Applejack
1 barspoon Absinthe
1 barspoon Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.

For a second drink at Brick & Mortar, I asked bartender Kenny Bolanger if there were any drinks from recent Spin the Bottle events. The one he selected for me was the Saucy Sue from the night that Emily Isenberg DJed. The Saucy Sue recipe appears in the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book with Calvados instead of the less intensely flavored applejack that was served here; regardless, both drinks are major slugs of booze only diluted by ice melt during stirring. Given the era and location, Saucy Sue was not a lover of stiff drinks, but a top-rated British racehorse during the 20s and 30s. This would put the drink in the fine class of horse racing drinks including the Suburban, Aqueduct, and Brown Jack. In addition, I was surprised that I could not find a LUPEC broad named Saucy Sue; the drink does appear in LUPEC Boston's Little Black Book of Cocktails on founding member MiMi's page though.
The orange twist contributed to the apple and apricot aroma. A dry apple sip led into a fruity and alcohol heat-laden swallow from the apple, grape, and apricot brandies. Finally, the barspoon of absinthe reared its head on the finish.