darling cocktail

20% Cognac (1/2 oz Courvoisier VS)
20% Demerara Rum (1/2 oz Hamilton 86°)
20% Batavia Arrack (1/2 oz von Oosten)
30% Sweet Vermouth (3/4 oz Giacomo Sperone)
10% Zara Maraschino (1/4 oz Luxardo)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a glass rimmed with grenadine and sugar, and garnish with a cherry.Two Wednesdays ago, I received my copy of 1000 Mistures from 1936 by Elvezio Grassi and recently translated by J.E. Clapham. For a starter, I honed in on the Darling Cocktail since I had not used my bottle of Batavia Arrack that much in the last year (save for the Lethal Weapon and Hitman). The trio of Cognac, rum, and Batavia Arrack screams out classic punches, but the only recipe that I could find that called for all three was Shannon Mustipher's modern Old Rogue punch. Here the three spirits were in a Martinez sort of format, so the straight spirits nature made me curious. In the glass, the Darling Cocktail offered up dark rum and nutty cherry aromas. Next, grape notes with a hint of molasses on the sip shifted into Cognac, funky and woody rum, nutty cherry, and clove flavors on the swallow.