charles in charge

1 1/2 oz Four Roses Bourbon
1 oz Carpano Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Gran Classico
1/2 oz Water

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The evening after the El Dorado event, I went with Andrea to get dinner at the Baldwin Bar at Sichuan Garden II. There, Joel Atlas and Anthony Vibert were tending the stick. For a first drink, I asked Joel for the Charles in Charge which he described as a lighter Manhattan or perhaps Brooklyn variation that Ran Duan created. I do regret not asking whether the drink was solely named after the 1980s television series or whether there was some inside joke about Baldwin Bar bartender Charles Coykendall.
The Charles in Charge greeted the nose with a lemon oil aroma at first that gave way to more floral and herbal notes over time. Malt from the Bourbon and a crisp wine from the dry vermouth colored the sip, and the swallow began with further whiskey flavors and ended with more Gran Classico bitter notes than Benedictine herbal ones on the finish.