cutlass

1 oz Clear Creek 8 Year Apple Brandy (Morin Calvados Selection)
1/2 oz Laird's Applejack (Laird's Bonded)
1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida (Banhez)
1/2 oz Crème de Noyaux (Tempus Fugit)
1/4 oz Honey Syrup
3 dash Peach Bitters (Fee Brothers)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.Two Sundays ago, I pulled up the online recipe flashcards for Palomar in Portland, Oregon, and the Cutlass called out to me. I soon found it in the bar's menu archives for a December 2022 launch, and it seemed like an interesting use of my bottle of crème de noyaux (that had been gathering dust) to support an apple brandy and mezcal combination. Furthermore, the drink name made me think of the unrelated Cutlass that I found in the 2018 Lustau Sherry competition collection which took a split-based concept in a banana-coffee direction. In the glass, this Cutlass slashed at the nose with grapefruit, apple, and nutty peach aromas. Next, honey, apple, and orchard fruit notes on the sip parried apple, nutty cherry-peach, vegetal, and smoke flavors on the swallow.

dead man's alley

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Banhez)
1/2 oz Amaro Braulio
1/2 oz Amaro Sfumato
1/8 oz Maple Syrup

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Fridays ago, I was inspired by a local drink I spotted with rye, Braulio, maple syrup, and walnut bitters to tinker. The Amaro Daiquiri made me think of the Braulio-Sfumato combination, and I split the rye 3:1 with mezcal that has worked in Ted Kilgore's Devil's Soul and in many Death & Co. drinks like the Hunt & Peck and that I have used before in cocktails like Death on the Installment Plan. I named this Black Manhattan with a touch of maple after a sketchy alley in 19th century San Francisco mentioned in Herbert Asbury's The Barbary Coast book. Once assembled, the Dead Man's Alley crept to the nose with an orange, caramel, maple, and roast aroma. Next, caramel and maple notes swirled on the sip, and the swallow ended things with rye, vegetal, herbal, pine, roast, and smoke flavors.

chelsea hook

2 oz Cognac (Monnet VSOP)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Crème de Peche (Mathilde)
1/2 oz Orgeat
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice, strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Fridays prior, I ventured back to the online recipe flashcards for Polite Provisions in San Diego, and the Chelsea Hook seemed like an interesting Sour. Yelp links the drink to 2021 via both photos and reviews, and the combination of complementary peach liqueur and orgeat elements balanced with citrus has appeared in a trio of drinks: the Henry Trotter, the Cowgirl in the Sand, and most recently for me in the Freydis. Once prepared, the Chelsea Hook opened up with a lemon, almond, floral, and peach aroma. Next, a creamy lemon and orchard fruit sip led into Cognac, almond, peach, and clove flavors on the swallow.

blonde on blonde

1 1/2 oz Dorothy Parker Gin (Tanqueray Malacca)
1/2 oz Elderflower Liqueur (St. Elder)
1/2 oz Fino Sherry (Tio Pepe)
1/2 oz Blanc Vermouth (Dolin)

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with a grapefruit twist perched on the edge of the glass.Two Thursdays ago, I returned to the online recipe flashcard set for Raines Law Room in Manhattan, and I was lured in by the Blonde on Blonde that was like Phil Ward's Elder Fashioned expanded into a Martini of sorts down to the grapefruit twist. I was able to find menu and drink photos for this drink on Yelp dating to 2019, and it was probably named after the Bob Dylan song just like Scott Holliday's Blonde on Blonde at Rendezvous. In the glass, this Blonde on Blonde approached the nose with a grapefruit, floral, and pine bouquet. Next, semi-sweet white grape and grapefruit notes on the sip flipped into gin, herbal, savory, floral, and grapefruit flavors on the swallow.

onyx

1 1/4 oz Mezcal (Banhez)
3/4 oz Appleton Rum (Appleton Signature)
3/4 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Blanc Vermouth (Dolin)
1/4 oz Maraschino (Luxardo)

Stir with ice and strain into a double old fashioned with a large ice cube.
Note: this leaves out the activated charcoal (see text) that was not on the recipe flashcard but in the menu description.Two Wednesdays ago, I found an online recipe flashcard set for Sundry & Vice in Cincinnati for the opening Indianopolis location in 2021. The recipe that I latched onto was the Onyx, and I was able to utilize GoogleMaps to uncover photos of both the menu and the drink in June 2018 at the original Cincinnati spot. The menu photo had activated charcoal as an ingredient which was not mentioned in the recipe flashcard, and the drink photo suggested a decent dose of the stuff due to the dark hue. I left out that ingredient for activated charcoal does not add to the flavor (and I do not have any at home); moreover, activated charcoal is generally frowned upon in food and drinks for it can absorb medications including birth control in the stomach. Once prepared, my brownish Onyx began with smoke, vegetal, and nutty cherry aromas. Next, a caramel sip with a hint of cherry transitioned into rum, vegetal, herbal, nutty cherry, and smoke flavors on the swallow. Overall, the balance was a little sweet, and perhaps dry vermouth in place of the blanc would have nudged things closer to my preferred profile.

the cane & the clove

1 oz Aged Rum (Planteray Fiji)
1 oz Mezcal Vago Elote (Banhez Espadin-Barril)
3/4 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry (El Maestro Sierra)
1/4 oz Falernum (Velvet)
3 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a flamed orange twist (unflamed).Two Tuesdays ago, I was perusing the online recipe flashcards for Idlewind, a menuless speakeasy in Charlotte, when I spotted the Cane & the Clove. The recipe was a borrowed one for it was created by Francisco Terrazas at Houston's Pastry War and published in the December 2017 issue of Imbibe Magazine. I then recalled that I did not make the drink back then for I did not have elote-style mezcal (mezcal distilled with corn akin to pechuga); however, this time, I realized that I was probably never going to purchase a bottle for myself and that the large amount of Pedro Ximenez sherry would probably cover those flavor nuances. Therefore, I let my intrigue take over instead of passing up the recipe even with its similarities to the Haitian Divorce. In the glass, the Cane & the Clove donated an orange, raisin, rum, and clove aroma. Next, plum and grape notes on the sip ventured into aged rum, caramel, smoke, vegetal, raisin, and clove flavors on the swallow.

laphroaig project

1 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Maraschino Liqueur (Luxardo)
1/2 oz Laphroaig Quarter Cask Scotch (Laphroaig 10 Year)
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
2 dash Peach Bitters (Fee Brothers)

Shake with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Mondays ago, I was listening to the new episode of the Bartender At Large podcast (or the Patreon bonus episode) where host Erick Castro and Imbibe Magazine editor Paul Clarke discussed the Laphroaig Project, and I realized that I had never made one for myself. I had straw-tasted it years ago when I had a regular at Russell House Tavern circa 2013-14 who was from San Francisco and used to request them off menu from me which was great since we had housemade peach bitters at the time (my bar notebook says that his name was Jonathan and we began talking about cocktails when he ordered a Prince Edward that he had learned down the road at Rendezvous). The closest to a full drink that I had tried was a variation called the Pineapple Project at Ames Street Deli in December 2014. This lesser known neo-classic was created by Owen Westman at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco circa 2009, and its popularity as a bartender's choice drink has probably been effected by the skyrocketing cost of Chartreuses and Laphroaig Scotch as compared to 15 years ago not to mention the availability issues of all those ingredients (when I was doing the ordering at Drink in 2022, I was more crushed by Laphroaig outages than Chartreuse shortages). Overall, it has the same feel of Death & Co.'s Pete's Word on paper (I need to make this soon) with the lemon juice aspect of the Final Ward.In the glass, the Laphroaig Project launched with a lemon, peat smoke, and nutty cherry bouquet. Next, a lemon sip with a hint of fruitiness slid into herbaceous, smoky Scotch, and nutty cherry flavors on the swallow.

infinite jest

1 oz Marie Duffau Armagnac
1 oz Iris Blanc Vermouth (Dolin)
1 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/2 oz Giffard Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
2 dash Boker's Bitters (1 dash Bitter Housewife's Cardamon + 1 dash Scrappy's Orange + 1 dash Scrappy's Aromatic)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Sundays ago, I returned to Shawn Soole's Great Northern Cocktails book and spotted the Infinite Jest by Robin Kaufman, bar director at Alo in Toronto. Since apricot and oxidized dry sherries like Amontillado have worked well in recipes like the Immigrant Song and Doubleheader, I was definite game to give my bottle of Armagnac some much needed love. Once assembled, the Infinite Jest opened up with orange, apricot, and nutty grape aromas. Next, grape and orchard fruit notes on the sip progressed into Armagnac, nutty, raisin, and apricot flavors on the swallow.

devil's kitchen

1 oz Mezcal (Banhez)
1 oz Pineapple Rum (Planteray Stiggins Fancy)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/4 oz Crème de Banane (Tempus Fugit)
1/4 oz Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur
2 dash Mole Bitters (Bittermens)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe glass (*), and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
(*) I originally made this in an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube as seen in the photo below. While there was a nice progression of flavors over time, it started to die when diluted too much. When I mentioned this on Instagram, folks tried it up and replied that they enjoyed it served that way, so I am going with my hunch.Two Fridays ago, I looked over various recipes for ingredients that worked well with Ancho Reyes and decided to create a cocktail. Of the 10 Ancho Reyes drinks on the blog, 7 contain mezcal, 2 with Cynar, 2 with mole bitters, and 1 with banana liqueur; moreover, I figured that pineapple rum would bolster the tropical notes of the banana despite it not having previously been paired with Ancho Reyes in my tasting history. Finally, I dubbed this the Devil's Kitchen after a neighborhood described in the 1933 book The Barbary Coast as a rough one in San Francisco during the latter half of the 19th century. In the glass, the Devil's Kitchen gave forth a grapefruit and vegetal aroma. Next, a caramel-tinged sip opened up into rum, vegetal, smoke, tropical, and chili pepper flavors on the swallow. When I made this on the rocks, the tropical aspect became more defined as pineapple and banana as the ice melted over time.

another sunken boat

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida (Banhez)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Cherry Heering
2 dash Absinthe (12 drop Copper & Kings)

Stir with ice, strain into a coupe, and garnish with a cherry.Two Thursdays ago, I decided to make the Another Sunken Boat by Phil Ward at New York City's Long Island Bar circa 2022 as a riff on the Remember the Maine originally published in Charles H. Baker Jr.'s first book. I had spotted this recipe on a friend's Instagram post in early July, and I was able to trace it back to Robert Simonson's Substack. The combination reminded me of the reposado tequila-based Remember the Alamo, so I was definitely interested in trying Phil's spin on things. In the glass, the Another Sunken Boat proffered smoke, vegetal, and licorice aromas to the nose. Next, grape and dark plum notes on the sip nestled into vegetal, smoke, bitter herbal, cherry, and licorice flavors on the swallow that later gained more dark fruit notes as the drink warmed up.

black pearl

1 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Planteray 5 Year Barbados Rum (Doorly's 12 Year)
1/2 oz Appleton Signature Rum
3/4 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
1 spritz Absinthe (8 drop St. George)

Build in an old fashioned glass, add ice, and stir to mix and chill.Two Wednesdays ago, I spotted a drink on the Reddit cocktails forum for the Black Pearl from Charlie Was a Sinner in Philadelphia that intrigued me. The recipe was posted by user Gordonf23 who was provided the information by a bartender there. The combination of Amaro Montenegro and Fernet Branca was one that worked amazingly well in Backbar's Scarecrow and that I later used in my Songs My Mother Taught Me. Moreover, the combination of rum, Punt e Mes, and Montenegro reminded me of Erick Castro's Blood of My Enemies, so I was excited to try this out with Fernet and absinthe in the mix. In the glass, the Black Pearl opened up with a caramel, rum, and herbal bouquet. Next, grape, caramel, and orange notes on the sip formed into rum, minty, herbal, and anise flavors on the swallow that later gained a menthol and clementine aspect as the ice diluted the mix.

pizzacato passage

1 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1 oz Amaro Meletti
1/2 oz Ancho Reyes Chile Liqueur
1/2 oz Dry Gin (Beefeater)
2 dash Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with candied ginger.Two Tuesdays ago, I fell back to the 2020 Community Cocktails book and spotted the Pizzacato Passage by owner-bartender Anu Apte at Roy Roy in Seattle. Matt Pietrek in his blog CocktailWonk wrote how the drink was part of the bar's December 2015 Advent Calendar cocktail menu. I was lured in for Amaro Meletti and dry oxidized sherries have worked well together in recipes like the 69 Holland and Globetrotter, so I gave this one a whirl. In the glass, I was greeted with a ginger, nutty grape, caramel, and floral-herbal aroma. Next, caramel and grape notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow wrapped things up with herbal, violet, chili pepper, dried fruit, and chocolate flavors.

pajazo mental

1 oz Mezcal (Banhez)
1 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Honey-Ginger Syrup

Shake with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and float 1/4 oz Nocino (Russo, it sank though).Two Mondays ago, the September/October issue of Imbibe arrived in the mail, and that night I latched onto the Pajazo Mental by beverage director Eric Syed at Parche in Oakland from an article on Penicillin riffs. This Penicillin riff had the smokey element in a split base with rye instead of as a float; here, the float was a walnut liqueur one. Due to the sugar content, my float sank but it did imbue a walnut aroma though through residuals on the ice and on the surface of the drink. That walnut note was joined by vegetal and smoke aromas on the nose. Next, lemon and honey on the sip led to rye, vegetal, smoke, and ginger flavors on the swallow that were later joined by a walnut finish.

the bitter blend

1/2 oz Gin (St. George Dry Rye)
1/2 oz Bourboun (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Campari
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Sundays prior, I ventured back to Shawn Soole's Great Northern Cocktails book and landed on the Bitter Blend by Montreal bartender Sean Michael McCaffrey. It read like a Negroni crossed with a Boulevardier, but with the Cynar part, perhaps a Negroni crossed with a Little Italy would be more fitting. Bourbon and gin in a straight spirits format was one that I have seen three times before: the Manhattan/Martinez-like Arnaud's Atomic Bomb, Fool's Gold with a Picon-like element, and Sother Teague's Youthful Expression with Ramazzotti (not to mention with citrus and ginger ale, the Suffering Bastard, of course). Moreover, the name reminded me of Eastern Standard's Bitter Brew that they crafted when their Amer Picon stock ran out. In the glass, the Bitter Blend proffered an orange and grapefruit bouquet. Next, a grape-driven sip slid into Bourbon, juniper, funky herbal, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow.