[gambit]

3/4 oz Bols Genever
3/4 oz Pisco
3/4 oz El Maestro Sierra Oloroso Sherry
3/4 oz Kina L'Avion d'Or
1 small dash Salt Tincture (sub 1 pinch salt)

Build in a rocks glass and stir briefly without ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with orange oil. Note: This is a room temperature cocktail.

For a second drink at Spoke, I turned to bartender Lena Webb to see if she was game. When she asked for ideas, I suggested a four equal parts drink with split spirit and split wine (or aromatized wine). Lena thought for a bit then built the drink up off of her love of pairing pisco with Oloroso sherry which creates a grape nut effect. As she tasted the mix before dilution, she commented that it was drinkable as is, and I encouraged her to take the Scaffa route and eschew chilling and dilution. For a name, I considered the origin of the two base spirits and thought of the chess set up, the Dutch-Peruvian Gambit; shortening it to the Gambit seemed like a better place holder name.
The drink began with orange oil over a malty aroma that shared some herbal complexity. A grape and malt sip gave way to a funky, nutty, and sherry swallow that ended with a lingering sharp note from the Genever. Definitely very drinkable at room temperature and undiluted.