blue collar

2 oz Rye Whiskey (Michter's)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/4 oz Amaro Ciociaro or Amer Picon (Ciociaro)
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

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

After making the White Collar, I was driven to make the companion piece that inspired it, namely the Blue Collar. For that one, Michael Madrusan accidentally mixed up the recipes for a Brooklyn and a Liberal at Milk & Honey back in 2008, and he liked the result. Madrusan in his A Spot at the Bar book lists the Blue Collar as Amer Picon, and the Bartender's Choice app calls for the similar in flavor Amaro Ciociaro. Overall, the combination is very similar to the original recipe for the Brooklyn (before it morphed into the dry vermouth recipe in a later books like the 1927 Barflies & Cocktails) in the 1908 Jack's Manual of 50% rye whiskey, 50% regular (sweet) vermouth, 1 dash Maraschino, and 1 dash Amer Picon.The Blue Collar greeted the nose with a lemon, grape, and cherry bouquet. Next, grape and caramel on the sip gave way to rye with bitter orange melding into nutty cherry flavors on the swallow with a clove and cherry finish. Overall, I rather enjoyed this version, and found it perhaps better than the classic Brooklyn akin to why I love the Creole Cocktail so much.