mance rayder

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Cimarron)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/2 oz Cointreau
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Orange Bitters (Angostura Orange)

Build in an old fashioned glass, add ice, stir to mix and chill, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Fridays, I opened up the Bartender's Choice app, and I spotted the Mance Rayder as "an agave Manhattan with a little Cointreau" crafted by Erick Castro in 2013 at Polite Provisions in San Diego. Erick named the drink after "after one of the coolest characters from Game of Thrones" (via his Bartender at Large site's blog), and he described it as "an unruly drink that still has an underlying sophistication" (via Bon Appétit). In the glass, it conjured up lemon, smoke, and vegetal aromas. Next, grape and orange notes on the sip transformed into smoke, agave, and orange flavors on the swallow with cinnamon, orange, and clove elements on the finish.

pine tavern road

1 1/2 oz Jim Beam Bonded Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1/2 oz Oloroso Sherry (Lustau)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Amaro Meletti
1/4 oz Walnut Liqueur (Russo Nocino)
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a glass; the recipe did not specify a serving style, so I served it in an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.Two Thursdays ago, I turned to an online flashcard set that included the opening 2015 menu at Seamstress in Manhattan. The recipe I selected was the Pine Tavern Road that had the walnut liqueur-Benedictine combination found in the Storm King and Sentimental Gentleman and the walnut liqueur-oxidized sherry duo utilized in the Juglans Regia and Folly Ruins. Once prepared, the Pine Tavern Road traveled to the nose with nutty sherry and walnut aromas rounded off with caramel-herbal notes. Next, grape and caramel on the sip exchanged for Bourbon, walnut, and herbal flavors on the swallow with an allspice and clove finish.

in bloom

1 1/4 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Carpano Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz St. Germain (St. Elder)

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe rinsed with rose water, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.Two Wednesdays ago, I returned to the online flashcard set for the Paper Plane in Atlanta, and I landed upon the In Bloom from the April 2014 menu. I later learned via Kindred Cocktails that it had been created in 2012 by Paul Calvert at Pura Vida in Atlanta previous to his working at the Paper Plane. Once prepared, the In Bloom gave forth a smoke, orange oil and rose aroma. Next, grape with fruity notes on the sip blossomed into vegetal, smoke, and bitter orange-floral flavors on the swallow.

jupiter cocktail

2/3 Dry Gin (2 oz Beefeater)
1/3 French Vermouth (1 oz Noilly Prat Dry)
1 tsp Parfait Amour (1/4 oz Marie Brizard)
1 tsp Orange Juice (1/4 oz)

Shake (stir) with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.After I entered the Siege of Havana into the Kindred Cocktails database, the site recommended the Jupiter Cocktail from the 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book as a related recipe. I was surprised that I had never made it before, and figured it would be a good reason to dust off our 16 year old bottle of Parfait Amour perhaps last used in 2018 and purchased before crème de violette was available in the United States. I believe that I first became aware of the recipe in Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails book, and there he described it as "the finest use of the arcane nineteenth-century liqueur Parfait Amour ever created." He also went on to warn of using too heavy of a pour of the stuff since the "combination of grape jellybeans and marshmallows" can take over a drink. Once prepared, the Jupiter gave forth a pine, vanilla, and floral bouquet to the nose. Next, a semi-crisp sip was upstaged by gin, orange, vanilla, bubblegum, and floral flavors on the swallow.

fernet cocktail

2 liqueur glass Italian Vermouth (2 oz Cocchi Sweet)
1 liqueur glass Fernet Branca (1 oz)
2 dash Curaçao (1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Two Mondays ago, a guest came into my bar earlier that night, and in conversation she mentioned that she inherited her parents' signed copies of a cocktail book and the associated cooking book published circa 1910. When she described how her parents got them signed at Harvard where a classmate had written them, I figured that the Boston connection and the timeframe could be author Louis Muckensturm. Louis was not a student at Harvard though; however, he moved to Boston from New York City in 1897 to work at the Hotel Marliave and later opened up his own spot Café Louis in 1908. When I showed her a photo of the Louis' Mixed Drinks cover from 1906, she lit up and concluded that was it plus the food one had a similar cover. Louis wrote two food books – Louis' Salads & Chafing Dishes from 1906 and Louis' Every Woman's Cook Book from 1910 – but it appeared that only the latter had a comparable cover to the drink volume not to mention the matching year to her recollection. I was unaware of Louis' food books that he put out akin to Charles H. Baker Jr.'s two food-drink duos.Therefore, when I got home, I pulled out my reprint of Louis' Mixed Drinks and landed upon the Fernet Cocktail that reminded me of the Appetizer à l'Italienne (my thoughts on that drink appeared 6 months ago in Imbibe Magazine). In a way, the aromatized wine, Fernet, and curaçao reminded me of an abstract Don't Give Up the Ship. Once mixed, the Fernet Cocktail showcased a grape, minty, and menthol aroma. Next, grape and caramel with a hint of orange on the sip flowed into grape, bitter herbal, and menthol flavors on the swallow with an orange-gentian finish.

welterweight

1 1/2 oz White Rum (Privateer)
3/4 oz Amontillado Sherry (Lustau)
3/4 oz Aperol

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass.Two Sundays ago, I found my evening's cocktail on the Bartender's Choice app, namely the Welterweight by Zachary Gelnaw-Rubin at Lion Lion in 2018. While the drink was described as "loosely reminiscent of an El Presidente," the combination of rum, sherry, and Aperol reminded me of Don Lee's Sargasso at PDT but here with a less funky rum and a drier sherry. Once stirred and strained, the Welterweight hit with an orange aroma darkened by oxidized sherry notes. Next, grape and nectarine on the sip pivoted to rum, nutty, and peach flavors on the swallow with an orange finish.

divine wind

1 oz Linie Aquavit
3/4 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/4 oz Luxardo Maraschino
1 dash Celery Bitters (Bitter Truth)

Stir with ice, strain into a single old fashioned glass, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Saturdays ago, I returned to the Atlanta's Paper Plane online flashcards and came across the Divine Wind from their February 2014 cocktail menu. It was described as a riff on the Tailspin, and it reminded me of the Norwegian Negroni given the aquavit and Cynar. In the glass, the Divine Wind whispered lemon, caramel, and grape aromas to the nose. Next, the caramel and grape continued on into the sip where it was chased by caraway, nutty cherry, and herbal flavors on the swallow.

formal wednesdays

1 oz Henry McKenna Bonded Bourbon (Evan Williams Bonded)
1 1/2 oz Punt e Mes
3/4 oz Novo Fogo Aged Cachaça (Salinas Umburana)
1/8 oz Lemon Juice
1/8 oz Grenadine

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a lemon twist.Two Fridays ago, I returned to the online flashcard set from the Paper Plane in Atlanta, and I landed upon the Formal Wednesdays that sort of reminded me of the Little Giuseppe with the heavy Punt e Mes pour and a barspoon of lemon juice. The pairing of Bourbon and cachaça was one that I had only experienced in the Honor Amongst Thieves, so I was curious to try it here in this Maloney-style Manhattan (minus the apricot liqueur rinse). In the glass, the Formal Wednesdays greeted the senses with a lemon, grape, and floral wood bouquet. Next, grape and berry notes on the sip gave way to Bourbon, fruity, woody spice, herbal, and grape flavors on the swallow.

jubilee street

1 1/2 oz Van Brunt Still House American Whiskey (Old Overholt 86°)
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/8+ oz Maple Syrup
1/8 oz Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)

Build in an old fashioned glass, add ice, stir to mix and chill, and garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Thursdays ago, I was perusing Kindred Cocktails when I came across the Jubilee Street created by Richard Boccato at Dutch Kills in Long Island City, NY, and published in Gary Regan's 101 Best New Cocktails Vol. 4 (the same volume that contains my Chutes and Ladders). Overall, the idea reminded me of The Sherpa also crafted at Dutch Kills that was whiskey, allspice dram, and curaçao with the last element here being Amaro Montenegro and maple syrup. While I did not have the Van Brunt four grain whiskey that the bar used, I figured that Old Overholt would work in a pinch in this drink possibly named after a Nick Cave song.Once prepared, the Jubilee Street proffered a lemon, maple, and hint of clementine to the nose. Next, a slightly citrus-noted sip flowed into whiskey, orange, maple, and allspice flavors on the swallow.