Favorite / Why Not?

This is one of many apricot brandy, lemon juice and gin cocktails--a combination that is so popular that a drink by the name Favorite is no surprise. These cocktails differ by proportion, however. This one leans more heavily on the apricot brandy and dry vermouth and less on lemon and gin.

Indecently, this is the same exact recipe for the drink called Why Not? except that that one calls for only a quarter teaspoon of lemon juice. It's basically the same thing, though. 

I always have MurLarkey ImaGination gin handy, so it was an obvious base. And I have to say that it is noticeably spicy and rich beneath all that fruitiness of the other ingredients. The other thing that helped was Rivata dry vermouth. With a whole ounce of the stuff, it adds character where this drink might fall flatly like a sugar bomb.

I didn't even bother to juice a lemon, and rather squeezed a wedge lightly over the shaker to get the half teaspoon required for the recipe.

• 1 1/2 oz. gin (ImaGination used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Rivata used)
• 1 oz. apricot brandy
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.