la salle

2/3 Rye Whiskey (1 3/4 oz Old Overholt)
1/8 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Cocchi)
1 dash Crème Yvette (1/4 oz)
1 dash Picon Bitters (1/4 oz Torani Amer)
1 dash Absinthe (2/3 bsp Kübler)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Thursdays ago, I was in need of a nightcap after my bar shift at work. When I began flipping through the list of tagged recipes in Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933, the La Salle as a Manhattan variation called out to me. The name reminded me of the Cocktail à la Louisiane riff, the Cocktail à la Salle, that I created substituting tequila and Oloroso sherry for the rye whiskey and sweet vermouth, respectively. The La Salle that I paid tribute to their was Robert de La Salle (a/k/a René-Robert Cavelier) who was a 17th century French explorer who ventured into the Gulf of Mexico and then up the Mississippi river through what is now New Orleans. The Pioneers book did not provide any information as to whom or what this particular recipe is named after, but considering that this appears like a Manhattan riff, it could be named after the La Salle Academy in Manhattan that opened in the 1840s.
The La Salle greeted the senses with rye, dark orange, and anise aromas. Next, grape and a hint of caramel on the sip was followed by rye, berry, floral, and orange flavors on the swallow with an anise finish.