josephine's bath

1 1/4 oz Rhum JM Blanc
1 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz Gran Classico

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass containing a large ice cube. Twist a grapefruit peel over the top.

A few Sundays ago, Andrea and I ventured down to Milton to dine at Steel & Rye where bartenders Ted Gallagher and Derric Crothers were manning the bar that night. For a first drink, I requested the Josephine's Bath which seemed like an interesting rhum agricole Negroni variation. Ted explained how he spent his honeymoon in Martinique, and there, he stood with his bride in a historic section of water off of the shore. The fame came from Napoléon Bonaparte's first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais from Martinique, and she used to bathe in that sandbar off the island's coast.
The grapefruit oil greeted the nose and preceded a grassy wine sip. The swallow then offered the grassy and mineral flavors of the rhum followed by the herbal notes of the Gran Classico and vermouth. Overall, the Gran Classico worked rather well here with the rhum agricole, and the Josephine's Bath came across as more delicate than other rhum agricole Negroni variations including the Pirate Slave and the Defensio.