mountaineers

1/2 Rye (1 1/2 oz Old Overholt)
1/4 Jamaican Rum (1/2 oz Coruba + 1/4 oz Smith & Cross)
1/4 Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Maurin)
1 dash Sherry (1/4 oz Oxford 1970 Pedro Ximenez)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Two Wednesdays ago, I began perusing Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 for the evening's libation. There, I spied the Mountaineer, and it struck me as a Manhattan mashup with Trader Vic's Arawak if the sherry here was a sweet one. Once prepared, the Mountaineer gave forth a raisin and funk nose that led into a rich grape and caramel sip. Next, rye, funky rum, and dark raisin flavors mingled on the swallow that ended with a winter-spiced finish.