harvard yard #2

2 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon
1 oz Cocchi Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Becherovka
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass rinsed with St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram.
Sunday about two weeks ago, Andrea and I stopped at the bar at Russell House Tavern for dinner. For a first drink, I asked bartender John McElroy for the Harvard Yard #2 as I was in a whiskey mood. The drink is named after the nearby part of campus that can almost be seen from the restaurant's front door. Out of curiosity, I asked what the original Harvard Yard recipe was that appeared on the menu back when Aaron Butler was the bar manager there. John provided this recipe:

Harvard Yard #1
• 2 1/2 oz Pikesville Rye
• 1 oz Dubonnet Rouge
• 1/2 oz Benedictine
Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass rinsed with St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram.

Basically, they had switched the rye to Bourbon, the herbal Bénédictine to the spiced Becherovka, Dubonnet to sweet vermouth, and cocktail to rocks glass besides adding a dash of Angostura Bitters. Once mixed, the #2 offered an allspice aroma from the rinse. A grape and malt sip led into Bourbon, clove, and allspice flavors on the swallow.