morton house

2/3 Black & White Scotch (1 1/2 oz Famous Grouse)
1/3 French Vermouth (3/4 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
1 dash Crème de Noyaux (1/4 oz Tempus Fugit)
1 dash Bokers or Picon Bitters (1/4 oz Torani Amer)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Tuesdays ago, I returned home from a bonus shift at work in need of a nightcap. For a solution, I searched my way through Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars: 1903-1933 until I found the Morton House that came across like a Scotch Brooklyn with noyaux in place of the similarly nutty Maraschino. That book also had the Parisian which was a Cognac Brooklyn with noyaux subbing in place of the Picon. As for the name, I was a bit flummoxed for there are many famous Morton Houses. The most famous is probably the 1872 book of that title published by Christian Reid, and the most interesting is an 1890s farmhouse that has been declared one of the most haunted places in America (albeit, the hauntings began after the recipe was created).
In the glass, there was less uncertainty for the mix provided a nutty aroma in a fruity-vanilla sort of way. Next, a dry malt-laden sip shifted into Scotch flavors and dark orange melding into nutty stonefruit pits on the swallow.