Friday, August 20, 2021

nude descending a staircase

1 1/4 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt) (*)
3/4 oz Aquavit (Aalborg)
1/2 oz Suze
2 dash Mole Bitters (Bittermens)

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.
(*) I wish that I had used Rittenhouse here for greater spice to work against the aquavit.

Two Fridays ago, I was inspired by last night's combination in the Cubist of aquavit and Suze to riff on it. To the aquavit, I recalled how well it paired with rye whiskey in the Long Way Home, the Carra-Ryed Away, and other recipes. I considered adding an aromatized wine to the mix, but I opted to keep this in the style of an Old Fashioned for simplicity's sake. As for a name, I recalled the painting Nude Descending a Staircase as being sort of Cubist. Indeed, Marcel Duchamp's 1912 work was first labeled as Cubist before being rejected by the art movement as being too Futuristic.
The Nude Descending a Staircase showcased orange, gentian herbal, and caraway aromas. Next, herbal and spice notes on the sip flowed into rye, gentian, licorice, chocolate, and caraway flavors on the swallow. Overall, I was pleased with the combination especially as an extension of last night's Cubist Cocktail, although I wish that I had used a more aggressively spiced rye like Rittenhouse instead of the softer Old Overholt to complement the aquavit better.

1 comment:

frederic said...

Current build at Drink: 1.5 Rittenhouse, .75 aquavit, .5 Suze, .25 dem, 2 dash mole.