the eagle's throne

1 oz Laird's Applejack
1 light oz Cynar
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Don Julio Añejo Tequila (Espolon Reposado)
1/4 oz Amaro Nonino (Averna)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe pre-rinsed with Sombra Mezcal (Montelobos). Garnish with grapefruit twist oil.
For a nightcap two Saturdays ago, I turned to Northstar Cocktails where I spotted the Eagle's Throne by Jourdan Gomez. With apple, bitter notes, and hints of smoke and agave, I was definitely intrigued. Once prepared, the Eagle's Throne offered grapefruit and smoke notes to the nose. Caramel and grape on the sip led into apple, agave, and funky bitter on the swallow.

inna di yard

1 oz Salers Gentian Liqueur
1/2 oz Wray & Nephew Rum
1 oz Orgeat
1 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Shake with ice and strain into a rocks glass containing fresh ice cubes. Garnish with a large lime twist.

Two Fridays ago, I turned to my copy of the newly released Experimental Cocktail Club and became interested in a weird Mai Tai-looking recipe called Inna Di Yard. The drink was crafted by Michael Mas of E.C.C. in Paris when he took a trip to St. Petersburg and he and his Russian friend tried to make Trinidad Sours. They decided to get creative when they realized that Angostura Bitters were too expensive in Russia, so they opted for Salers liqueur instead. The end result reminded me also of the Frog Splash with different rum, the addition of bitters, and slightly different measurements.
The Inna Di Yard offered a lime and nutty aroma. Next, crisp lime balanced by orgeat's richness on the sip led into funky rum on the swallow being complemented by gentian earthiness and orgeat nuttiness.

treaty of paris

1 1/2 oz Courvoisier VSOP Cognac (Foret VSOP)
1 1/4 oz Earl Grey Tea Syrup (1:1)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice. Strain into a coupe glass containing 2 oz champagne (Gruet Blanc de Blanc) and garnish with finely ground Earl Grey tea leaves.

After the Sailor's Swizzle, I decided to end the night with a recipe that I had spotted in Imbibe by Griffin Lawler of Café on the Green at the Four Seasons in Dallas. His treaty of Paris with the Earl Grey tea elements, lemon, and egg white reminded me of Audrey Saunders' Earl Grey MarTEAni. Here, besides having a brandy instead of gin base, the tea was in a syrup instead of an infusion and the drink was lightened with sparkling wine.
The Treaty of Paris began with a bergamot orange aroma with wine notes poking through the egg white froth. Next, a creamy carbonated sip displayed lemon and white wine flavors, and the swallow offered brandy, tea, and orange peel.

sailor's swizzle

1 1/2 oz Bacardi Carto Oro Rum (Old Ipswich/Turkey Shore White Cap)
2/3 oz Ruby Port (Taylor Fladgate)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz 2:1 Simple Syrup (3/4 oz 1:1 Simple)
1/8 oz Allspice Dram (St. Elizabeth)

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crushed ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Garnish with a few dashes of Angostura Bitters and lime zest strings (spent half lime shell and mint).
Two Thursdays ago, I was in the mood for something a bit more tropical, so I remembered that I had spotted an interesting yet classic-feeling Swizzle on Difford'sGuide a few weeks ago. The drink was the Sailor's Swizzle crafted by Erik Lorincz of the American Bar in London circa 2012. Once built, it offered a mint, allspice, clove, and lime oil aroma. On the sip, crisp lime was balanced by sweet grape notes, and the swallow shared rum and allspice on the swallow that later gained Angostura's clove and cinnamon as the garnish integrated into the drink.

tony vaughn

1 1/2 oz Rum Blanca (Denizen Aged White Rum)
3 dash Benedictine (1/2 oz)
2 dash Dry Vermouth (1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
2 dash Sweet Vermouth (1/2 oz Dolin)
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

When nightcap time came around two Wednesdays ago, I found myself flipping through the saucy pages of Bottoms Up and happened upon the Tony Vaughn created at the Hotel Jaragua in Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic. The combination of rum, vermouth, Benedictine, and bitters reminded me of Trina Starlite Lounge's similarly named Tony Montana. Indeed, the Tony Vaughn appearing like a perfect vermouth rum Preakness also sounded alluring.
The Tony Vaughn shared an orange oil aroma over that of the grape notes. The grape continued on into the sip and was followed by funky rum, chocolate, clove, mint, and cinnamon flavors.

double double

1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz Campari
1/2 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Cynar

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange coin twist.

Two Tuesdays ago, I reached for my copy of Northstar Cocktails to find a modern recipe as a nightcap. The one that caught my attention was Pip Hanson's Double Double that reminded me of Phil Ward's Cornwall Negroni that he created at Gary Regan's Cocktails in the Country 2005. The major differences between the two are that the Double Double has a touch more Campari and utilizes Cynar instead of a dash of orange bitters.
The Double Double started with orange oil and grape notes on the nose. Next, citrus-tinged grape on the sip led into juniper and bitter orange on the swallow with Cynar's funky bitter notes combined with Punt e Mes' more rounded bitter ones on the finish.

bela vista

2 oz Old Overholt Rye
1 oz Amaro Ramazzotti
1/2 oz Giffard Banane du Bresil

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with a big ice cube. Garnish with a cherry.
Two Mondays ago, I stopped into No. 9 Park for a drink when bartenders Ryan Lotz and Gregg Guertin were at the stick. When I scanned the menu, I was curious about the Bela Vista for I wanted to see how banana liqueur would work with another amaro after it did so well with Campari in the Banana Boulevardier. In the glass, the Bela Vista shared a banana and cherry aroma that later displayed darker rye notes. Next, the malty and caramel sip fell aside to rye and cola notes on the swallow and banana and orange on the finish. Moreover, as the ice melted, the banana began to take a larger role in the flavor profile.

east india

3/4 jigger Sherry (2 oz Lustau Amontillado)
1/4 jigger Swedish Punsch (3/4 oz Kronan)
1 dash Curaçao (1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. I added a lemon twist.

Two Sundays ago, I pondered a drink called the East India that I spotted in Pioneers of Mixing in Elite Bars: 1903-1933. It was curious for there is a better known East India Cocktail first published in Harry Johnson's 1882 Bartenders' Manual that is brandy, pineapple syrup, maraschino, curaçao, and bitters. Here, the only overlap was curaçao, but the combination of sherry and Swedish Punsch seemed rather intriguing despite the name overlap. Charles H. Baker wrote about the more famous East India Cocktail in Jigger, Beaker and Glass and mentioned that there was a second recipe under that name with dry vermouth, sherry, and orange bitters; swapping the punsch for the vermouth and curaçao for orange bitters here would yield something in that ball park.
This East India began with a lemon oil and grape aroma with hints of orange peel. Next, a slightly sweet grape sip led into dry nutty sherry, tea tannins, and orange flavors on the swallow.

silver

1/3 jigger Gin (1 1/2 oz Beefeater)
1/3 jigger Dry Vermouth (1 1/2 oz Noilly Prat)
3 dash Maraschino (1/4 oz Luxardo)
2 dash Orange Bitters (Regan's)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

After the Coola Culla Don, I wanted something a bit more old school as a final drink of the night. Therefore, I turned to Boothby's 1934 Boothby's World Drinks And How To Mix Them and found the Silver which caught my eye as a dry (vermouth) Martinez. While the original Martinez recipe utilized Boker's Bitters, I often prefer to make them with orange bitters like in the Silver instead of aromatic ones like Angostura for I find that the extra fruit note helps to accentuate the Maraschino as well as bring out the orange peel notes in the vermouth and gin. Moreover, Boker's Bitters were heavy on the orange peel so this preference has some historical foundation.
Once prepared, the Silver greeted the nose with a lemon oil bouquet. Next, the sip was rather crisp with light white wine notes, and the swallow shared juniper and nutty Maraschino flavors with an orange finish.