cherry blossom

2 oz Roku Gin
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz Honey Syrup (1:1)
1/2 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lemon twist.
Note: this drink was a touch on the sweet side. Perhaps upping the lemon to 3/4 oz or reducing the Maraschino to 1/4 oz would help (or Maraschino and honey syrup to 3/8 oz each).

During the USBG Northeast Regional Conference, there were two events on Monday night. One was the Patron karaoke event that I briefly attended before the other -- a Beam-Suntory drink night at the Ordinary -- won out. On the menu were three cocktails, and I selected the Roku Cherry Blossom that was very similar to Eastern Standard's Cherry Blossom. I figured that it was based off of a classic, but all of the gin and Maraschino recipes link back to my post about the one that Eastern Standard served for their red, white, and blue drink night celebrating the Fourth of July in February (a post-Valentine's Day industry night). Here, I surmised that the connection was that this Japanese gin contains Sakura cherry blossoms and leaves in the botanical mix, and perhaps these two recipes were independently created (especially since I could not find a pre-2010 recipe to suggest a classic).
This Cherry Blossom provided a lemon, floral, and nutty cherry bouquet to the nose. Next, a semi-sweet lemon sip led into gin, nutty, and floral flavors on the swallow. Overall, the balance was a bit sweet for me, and I offer suggestions on how to fix that up in the instruction's note.