sasaki garden

1 1/2 oz Nikka Coffey Grain Japanese Whisky (Suntory Toki)
1/2 oz Avua Amburana Cachaça (Salinas Umburana)
2 tsp Caffo Amaretto (Luxardo)
1 tsp Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Fridays ago, I looked to my Death & Co. book indices for recipes that utilize Japanese whisky, and I found the Sasaki Garden in their Welcome Home edition. The recipe was crafted by bartender Sam Johnson in 2019, and it was his ode to a park on the N.Y.U. campus that he used to walk through on the way to the bar. While the name reminded me of my Mytoi Gardens that I created at Russell House Tavern, the split spirits-split modifiers structure made me think of my Gallivanting in Golden Gai with orgeat and Maraschino. Since Scotch paired well with amaretto in the 1970s classic, the Godfather, and Scotch with apricot liqueur in the Golden Dog, I was curious to see how the two liqueurs worked with Japanese whisky. In the glass, the Sasaki Garden gave forth lemon and marzipan aromas. Next, a vaguely nutty and orchard fruit sip traversed into whisky, almond, cinnamon spice, and apricot flavors on the swallow. While the cachaça as a spirit got a little lost in the mix, the amburana wood finish came through with its delightful cinnamon spice note.