rose dragon

1 1/2 oz Gin (Beefeater)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Royal Rose Rose Syrup
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
3 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass

About two weeks ago, I received a bunch of samples from Royal Rose Syrups. I had met Emily Butters, one of the two owners of the company, right before my book signing at the Boston Cocktail Summit last October in the Boston Shaker store's room. Recently, Emily asked if I wanted to try out the syrups, and after looking through the recipes on their page, I was definitely excited about a few of them, so I gave her the thumbs up. The ones that I was most excited about trying used the rose syrup, and the recipe that called out to me the most was the Rose Dragon which seemed like a riff on the Last Word. A short time later, I also made a drink with the saffron syrup that I will cover soon; the five other syrups include raspberry, three chili, tamarind, lavender-lemon, and cardamom-clove. Locally, Adam at the Boston Shaker store in Somerville sells seven of Royal Rose's syrups; while he lacks the saffron I mentioned, he does carry a strawberry-fennel that I have heard good things about.
The Rose Dragon presented a gin and Chartreuse aroma that was joined by sweet floral notes. The lemon sip was joined by some herbal notes that were perhaps due to the rose syrup; however, most of the rose came through on the swallow where it mingled with the gin and Green Chartreuse botanicals. Indeed, the rose syrup played a similar role as the Maraschino Liqueur in a Last Word.