brave companion

2 oz Bourbon (Old Grand-Dad Bonded)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Crème de Cacao (Tempus Fugit)
1/2 oz Vanilla Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice, and garnish with a lemon wheel.
Two Tuesdays, I pulled Paul Clarke's 2015 The Cocktail Chronicles off the bookshelf to see if there were any glossed over gems. The one that I latched on to was Erick Castro's Brave Companion that he crafted for the 2013 opening menu at Polite Provisions in San Diego. Once prepared, the Brave Companion met the nose with a lemon and whiskey bouquet. Next, lemon with a caramel-roast note on the sip marched into Bourbon, chocolate, and vanilla flavors on the swallow. When I thought about the combination of Bourbon and cacao, I realized that this was one that I had enjoyed in the past in both classic recipes like the Commodore No. 2 from the 1935 Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book and modern ones like the Transatlantic Giant.