rags to riches

2 oz Fighting Cock Bourbon (Wild Turkey 101°)
3/4 oz Cardamaro
1/4 oz Vanilla Syrup
2 dash Root Beer Bitters (The Bitter Queens Sarsparilla)

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.Two Sunday mornings ago, I was scanning a collection of flashcards from the now closed Pouring Ribbons in Manhattan, and I spotted the Rags to Riches from their Spring 2015 menu. The recipe called for vanilla syrup which I have been out of for a while, so I decided to make a batch that would be ready for my nightcap after my bar shift that evening. Once prepared, this Manhattan variation of sorts conjured up Bourbon, plum, and vanilla aromas. Next, grape and plum notes on the sip transformed into Bourbon, herbal, root beer, and vanilla flavors on the swallow.