creole poet

1 1/2 oz Dry Gin (Beefeater)
1 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Amer Picon (Torani Amer)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Mondays ago, I was flipping through Pioneers of Mixing in Elite Bars: 1903-1933 when I spotted a Brooklyn in the gin section of all places (a similar recipe called the Montmarte was crafted at Craigie on Main). That got me thinking about the structure, and I selected the Poet's Dream as a Martini riff starting place and I merged the modifying liqueurs with the Creole Cocktail with its Picon and Benedictine. For a name, I kept it simple with the Creole Poet.
The Creole Poet welcomed the senses with a bright lemon oil aroma over juniper and darker notes from the Picon and Benedictine. Next, a lightly caramel orange sip led into gin, chocolate, orange, and quinine flavors on the rather elegant swallow