white elephant

3/4 oz Blended Scotch (Famous Grouse Smoky Black)
3/4 oz Cognac (Courvoisier VS)
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (Giacomo Sperone)
1 tsp Luxardo Amaretto
1/2 tsp Nocino (Russo)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a cherry and an orange twist.Two Tuesdays ago, I turned to Imbibe Magazine's archives and found the White Elephant by Isaac Shumway as his take on fruitcake flavors via a 2021 article. Isaac opened the California Gold bar in San Rafael, California, in 2019, so perhaps he created it there. As sort of a Rob Roy meets a French Connection (a Cognac-based Godfather) with a touch of walnut in the mix, I was willing to give this one a shot. Here, the White Elephant approached with a grape and almond bouquet. Next, the vermouth's grape continued on into the sip where it was followed by smoky Scotch, Cognac, and herbal flavors on the swallow with fruity-nutty accents from the amaretto and walnut ones from the nocino.