sacre bleu

1 1/2 oz Martell Cognac (Courvoisier VS)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
2 bsp Cointreau (1/4 oz)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass pre-rinsed with Pernod Absinthe, and garnish with an orange twist (orange oil, discard twist).

Two Sundays ago, I reached for the Stir Your Soul book that contained most of the recipes served at the 2009 Tales of the Cocktail event. There, I was lured in by the Sacre Bleu crafted by Simon Ford for a spirited dinner held at Wolfe's in New Orleans that week. The Sacre Bleu was a Cognac Sazerac like the original version before Phylloxera forced bartenders into making it a rye whiskey drink, and the orange liqueur reminded me of Gaz Regan's Sazerac riff, La Tour Eiffel. Moreover, the brandy, vermouth, orange liqueur, and bitters triggered thoughts of Robert Hess' Black Feather that we discovered either on his DrinkBoy blog or in his Essential Bartender's Guide book back in 2007 or so.
Once built, the Sacre Bleu cursed our nose with orange and anise aromas with some darker notes from either the Cognac or sweet vermouth. Next, the grape-driven sip gave way to brandy and orange flavors melding together on the swallow with accents from anise spice.