the way of the sword

1 1/2 oz Yamazaki 12 Year Whisky (Kavalan)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Ruby Port (Taylor Fladgate)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Saturdays ago, I honed in on my Food & Wine: Cocktails section of my library, and I found the Way of the Sword in the 2015 edition. The recipe was crafted by Jason Patz at William & Graham as a riff on the Rob Roy; I had probably skipped over the drink for I lack Japanese whisky at the home bar, but I figured that Taiwanese might be close enough. In the glass, the Way of the Sword swung with an orange, grape, and vegetal aroma. Next, grape and caramel on the sip parried a whisky, dark grape, tobacco, and herbal swallow. Indeed, the port here worked rather well with the whisky as it had in other cocktails such as the classic Chancellor.