La Vina (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

The inventor of this drink says they like to use an amaro in a Manhattan to surprise guests. I'm not so surprised by this as I am with the use of a rich sherry like East India Solera. The idea for this drink may have begun as a Manhattan variation, but it became a lower ABV cocktail when amaro and sherry make up two thirds of the ingredients. 

To make Amaro Nonino, I use half my homemade Amer Picon, which is really loaded with orange and herbal notes and half Ambrosia cordial from Don Ciccio & Figili. Together you get something approximating the bittersweet Nonino. 

I have the rest of the ingredients as they are specified in the recipe, however, and the final product is pretty and very nice either before or after dinner.

• 1 oz. rye (Catoctin Creek used)
• 1 oz. Amaro Nonino (1/2 oz. each Amer Picon and Apertivo used)
• 1 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
• 1 dash orange bitters (Hella used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe. 

Legend (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Going through the Death & Co. stirred brandy cocktail chapter section, I realized they have many drinks that follow this same format: brandy and rum, and bitter aperitifs and sweet fortified wines, served in a coupe with no garnish. 

And this is truly one of the best of them. I love this one because it is light and balanced, yet contains some really deep flavors. No wonder it's called Legend. In something like this, small differences can mean noticeable changes, so Legend may be one to try again with different rums, amari, or bitters. I went with aromatic bitters by Hella (not Bitter Truth) and Angostura. And I don't have Appleton estate rum or Amontillado, but I do have Caribbean rum and solera reserve from Lustau. Finally, I have a local amaro by Don Ciccio and Figili that has to stand in for Amaro Nonino. It doesn't quite cut it, so I used a splash of my Amer Picon to give it the bitter orange peel notes of Nonino.

• 2 oz. cognac (Martell single distillery used)
• 1/2 oz. Appleton Estate V/X rum (George Bowman used)
• 3/4 oz. Lustau Amontillado (Lustau East India Solera sherry used)
• 1/2 oz. Amaro Nonino (blend of Ambrosia and Amer Picon used)
• 1 dash Bitter Truth aromatic bitters (Hella used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe.