marguerite

50% Plymouth Gin (1 1/2 oz Bombay Dry)
50% Dry Vermouth (1 1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)
1 dash Absinthe (12 drop Copper & Kings)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an olive (lemon twist).Two Mondays ago, I began flipping through the pages of my 1933 reprint of Jack's Manual when I spotted the Martini precursor, the Marguerite. The book sourced this recipe from Harry Johnson's 1900 New and Improved Bartenders' Manual swapping the anisette and lemon twist for absinthe and olive here. Later versions of the Marguerite such as in the 1904 Stuart's Fancy Drinks dropped the anisette/absinthe component to become closer to the classic Martini. This Marguerite with absinthe and lemon twist presented a lemon, pine, and licorice aroma. Next, a crisp sip led into gin, white grape, orange, licorice, and anise flavors on the swallow.