nelson

2/3 Rye Whiskey (1 3/4 oz Old Overholt)
1/4 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Maurin)
1 dash Sherry (1/4 oz Amontillado)
1 dash Picon Bitters (1/4 oz Torani Amer)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass; I added an orange twist.
After my work shift two Thursdays ago, I turned to Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 to find the straight spirits sort of drink that I was craving. There, I found the Nelson that reminded me of the original 1908 Brooklyn Cocktail in Jack's Manual that contained sweet vermouth instead of the dry vermouth that won out in history. In parallel to the nutty Maraschino liqueur in the Brooklyn, what if the sherry here was an oxidized one like an Amontillado or Oloroso? Once mixed, the garnish I added to the Nelson donated bright orange oils over the cocktail's darker grape and Picon notes. Next, a semi-dry grape sip led into rye and nutty flavors on the swallow with a complex quinine and orange swallow. Perhaps an Oloroso would have added more nutty notes than an Amontillado, but it still was a decent Manhattan riff albeit not as delightful to my palate as the dry vermouth Brooklyn.