poet's dream

2 oz Berkshire Mountain Greylock Gin
3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz Benedictine
2 dash Bitter Cube Orange Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.
For the Loyal Nine classic of the day two weeks ago, I asked for requests and a straight spirits gin drink was the chosen theme. I remembered back to my Diplomat bar guest at Russell House who was so impressed by my Martini that he began emailing me to discuss the drink. In future visits, I introduced him to other variations like the Martinez and the Hanky Panky; however, he stopped showing before I could enact others on the list including the Poet's Dream. Although there are equal part recipes of that drink, I prefer the one that utilizes the Benedictine as a minor modifier like Maraschino and Fernet Branca in the other two Martini variations. Wondrich tracked that Poet's Dream recipe back to 1934 and the equal part one to the Old Waldorf-Astoria Cocktail Book, but the recipe, albeit with Old Tom Gin, tracks back to 1895 with the Ford Cocktail. Built the way described above way, the Benedictine added a slight herbal complexity and darker color to a nearly 3:1 Martini.