the quick & the bitter

3/4 oz Rittenhouse 100 Rye
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
3/4 oz S. Maria al Monte Amaro
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Cinnamon Syrup

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

The first of the Blue Room's Whiskey & Amari nights featured the bartending duo of Tyler Wang of No. 9 Park and John Henderson of Scholars and soon of Fort Point's Tavern Road. Andrea and I chose a pair of drinks from Tyler's half of the menu for our first round and a pair of drinks from John for the second. While Andrea selected one of Tyler's drinks, the Triumph of Pompei, that I had tried at No. 9 Park a few months ago, I opted for one of his new ones called The Quick & The Bitter. At first I figured that the drink was a riff on the movie that was playing that night, but "The Quick & The Dead" is a more modern movie and was not the one on the television screen. Instead, that movie was "A Fistful of Dollars."
The S. Maria al Monte's menthol joined the syrup's cinnamon notes on the nose. A lemon, grape, and caramel sip was followed by a swallow that began with rye. Next, the swallow offered an herbal flavor that was smoothed out by the sweet lemon and ended with a minty finish.