at the gates of hell

2 oz 69% Multi-Island Rum (Plantation OFTD)
1/2 oz Aged Pot Still 100° Jamaican Rum (Smith & Cross)
1 1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1/2 oz Blackberry Liqueur (Marie Brizard)
1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup

Shake with crushed ice, dump into a Tiki mug or tall glass, and top with crushed ice. Garnish with mint and blackberries (omit berries).

One of the presents that Andrea recently gave me was a seahorse mug that she bought at the Boston Shaker store, and two Mondays ago, I set off to find a recipe for its maiden voyage. Thus, I selected Chad Austin's Everyone Has a F*cking Cocktail Book that I had not touched in a few months to find the answer. The drink that called out to me was his At the Gates of Hell, and I was intrigued that it called for blackberry brandy which has appeared in a few classics such as Don's Own Grog, Kamehameha Rum Punch, and Rum Runner. I had not touched that bottle of liqueur for around two and a half years when I dusted it off last to create the Rum Runner's Downfall mashup recipe.The At the Gates of Hell proffered a blackberry and mint aroma to the nose. Next, caramel, dark berry, and lime notes on the sip waylaid into funky rum, cinnamon, and blackberry flavors on the swallow.

word to the wise

1 oz Old Grand-Dad 114° Bourbon
1/2 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quina
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz Lime Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a cherry.Two Sundays ago, I decided to make another of the interesting recipes that I found in my search of Kindred Cocktails for Bonal drinks. This one was Ted Kilgore's Bourbon Last Word riff called Word to the Wise that he created at Taste in St. Louis, Missouri, and posted to the database in 2011. With Bonal and overproof Bourbon in the mix in place of the gin, the Word to the Wise gave forth a nutty cherry and green herbal aroma akin to the classic. Next, grape and lime notes swirled on the sip, and the swallow informed the palate of Bourbon, nutty cherry, and herbal flavors.

year of the trees

1 1/2 oz Knob Creek 100° Bourbon (Old Grand-Dad Bonded)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
1/2 oz Amaro Nonino
1 tsp Demerara Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 drop Sarsaparilla Tincture (1 dash Bitter Queens Sarsaparilla Bitters)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Saturdays ago, I turned to Death & Co.'s new book, Welcome Home, for a nightcap. The one that I selected was Matthew Belanger's 2019 Year of the Trees that featured the Bourbon, mezcal, and Amaro Nonino combination that I tasted in the Gryffindor Common Room, so I was intrigued. Here, the Year of the Trees met the nose with an orange, caramel, and root beer aroma. Next, the amaro's caramel note came through on the sip, and the swallow grew into Bourbon, smoky agave, and dark orange flavors.

parisian sour

2 oz Cognac (Du Peyrat Selection)
3/4 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Cane Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake once without ice and once with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe (single old fashioned glass), and garnish with chocolate bitters (Angostura Cocoa).On New Year's Eve, I turned to Sother Teague's I'm Just Here for the Drinks book for a way to cap off the evening as well as the year. There, I was lured in by the Parisian Sour – Sother's riff on a Pisco Sour based off of two French products, namely Cognac and vermouth, that start as grapes just like pisco. Once prepared, the Parisian Sour donated a lemon and chocolate aroma to the nose. Next, a creamy lemon sip set up a Cognac, lemon, and herbal swallow.

st. george & the dragon

1 3/4 oz Redbreast 12 Year Irish Whiskey (Redbreast Lustau Finish)
3/4 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch
1/4 oz Benedictine
2 dash Absinthe (20 drop St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into a Nick & Nora glass, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist.Two Thursdays ago, I began flipping through the pages of Death & Co.'s Welcome Home book when I spotted Al Sotack's Bobby Burns riff called St. George & the Dragon that he crafted in 2014. In the glass, the cocktail proffered a lemon and anise bouquet. Next, a grape-driven sip gave way to whiskey and herbal flavors on the swallow with a chocolate, smoke, and anise finish.

suro-mago

2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
3/4 oz Manzanilla Sherry (Tio Pepe Fino)
1/2 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)
1 dash Orange Bitters (Scrappy's)

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass (coupe) pre-rinsed with mezcal (Mezcal Union), and garish with a grapefruit twist.Two Wednesdays ago, I was scanning the Kindred Cocktails database when I uncovered the Suro-Mago created by Phil Ward at Mayahuel and published in Food & Wine in 2011. Phil named this drink after tequila advocate David Suro-Piñera, and the combination reminded me of the simplicity of the Elder Fashion with the reposado tequila-mezcal duo seen in his Oaxacan Old Fashioned as the spirit base (plus the addition of sherry). In the glass, the Suro-Mago greeted the senses with a smoke, briny, and grapefruit aroma. Next, a peachy sip with a hint of grapefruit flowed into tequila, floral, nutty, and mineral flavors on the swallow.

last man on earth

2 oz White or Light Rum (Bacardi 4 Year)
3/4 oz Blanc Vermouth (Dolin)
1/4 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/8 oz Cinnamon Syrup
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Absinthe (12 drop St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a grapefruit twist. Originally published on Instagram as 1 1/2 oz rum, 1/2 oz grapefruit, and 1/4 oz cinnamon syrup with the rest held the same, but the cinnamon note was a bit too dominant.

Two Tuesdays ago, I was inspired by my Zombie President to remix it to something more simple and with fresh juice instead of liqueur in this stirred drink. I thought about how the Zombie Essence stripped down the 1934 Zombie into rums, Don's Mix (2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup), and lime. So perhaps moving Don's Mix into the blanc vermouth version of the El Presidente in place of grenadine and curaçao would likewise transfer the feel. In addition, I upped the ante by adding in the Zombie's Angostura and absinthe accents. For a name, I searched for zombie movie titles, and the 1964 post-apocalyptic Last Man on Earth stood out.The Last Man on Earth proffered a grapefruit and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, grapefruit and white grape notes on the sip uncovered rum, grapefruit, cinnamon, clove, and allspice flavors on the swallow with a hint of anise on the finish.

storyville

1 oz Brandy (Du Peyrat Selection Cognac)
1 oz Mezcal (Mezcal Union)
3/4 oz Bonal Gentiane-Quina
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a big ice cube, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Mondays ago, I sought out more uses for my semi-new bottle of Bonal on Kindred Cocktails. There, I came across the Storyville by New York City bartender Rafa Garcia Febles in 2013 that appeared like an unusual brandy-mezcal Manhattan of sorts. Once prepared, the Storyville donated a lemon and smoke aroma that contained a richness from the Cognac and Bonal. Next, grape and caramel notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow launched with Cognac, smoky mezcal, and herbal flavors followed by a smoke and vegetal finish.

someone else

1 oz Macallan 12 Year Scotch (Famous Grouse)
1 oz Boissiere Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Marie Brizard Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

I was perusing Kindred Cocktails when I spotted a recipe that reminded me of the Alto Cucina called the Someone Else. The similarities of the drinks where this had apricot in place of the other's elderflower liqueur were no coincidence for both were created by Stephen Shellenberger circa 2008 when he was working at Dante in Cambridge, MA. While the Alto Cucina ended up in Imbibe Magazine in 2009, this one was posted by Stephen on eGullet and left unnamed. When an eGullet user suggested "Who Else?" as a name as in "who else besides Stephen would craft this?", Kindred Cocktails' Dan Chadwick dubbed it "Someone Else" for the database. The switch to Cynar-apricot liqueur made me think of the One One Thousand, and I wondered how that pairing would change it from the elderflower version that I was already familiar with.The Someone Else met the nose with an apricot and floral aroma. Next, caramel and stone fruit notes on the sip stepped aside for Scotch and herbal flavors on the swallow with an apricot finish.