turf war

1 1/2 oz London Dry Gin (Beefeater)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice, strain into an absinthe-rinsed (St. George) old fashioned glass with a large cube, and garnish with a flamed lemon twist (unflamed).

After work two Thursdays ago, I decided to make a drink I had spotted on BarNotes app called the Turf War. It was the first cocktail creation by Tulsa bartender T. Read Richards, and by the name and the ingredients, it appeared to be inspired by the classic Turf Club Cocktail. The Turf Club first appeared in George J. Kappeler's 1895 Modern American Drinks that is more of an Old Tom gin Old Fashioned of sorts, but the one that stuck was the one recorded by Harry McElhone in his 1922 ABC of Mixing Cocktails that is very similar to the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book's Tuxedo Cocktail No. 2 (the differences are whether the modifiers are 1 dash or 2). Here, the dry vermouth in the Turf War was swapped to Punt e Mes (the Turf War in the Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book called for sweet vermouth though) in a 2:1 instead of 1:1 gin to aromatized wine ratio, and the absinthe was moved to a rinse.
The Turf War greeted the senses with a lemon, anise, and grape bouquet. Next, grape with a hint of cherry on the sip slid into juniper and bitter cherry flavors on the swallow.