Sweep the Leg (Death & Co. Recipe)

There's some Karate Kid fans working at Death & Co. for sure. This cocktail uses Japanese whiskey, to tie into the name. But I can't afford the stuff and really I get a kick out of using malted whiskey (and beer whiskey, which is malted) to approximate Japanese whiskey. That malted whiskey is Catoctin Creek Colossal X!

I also loved that this drink includes sherry, orgeat and chocolate bitters. These flavors all come across as deep and tropical, so it is no surprise they end up in this Japanese themed cocktail. 

• 2 oz. Suntory Hakashu 12-year whiskey (Catoctin Creek Colossal X used)
• 3/4 oz. orgeat (Fee Brothers used)
• 1/2 oz. Amontillado sherry
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/4 oz. acacia honey surp
• 1 tsp. Luxardo Amaro Abano (a combination of homemade Amer Picon and Don Ciccio and Figli Ambrosia used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 dash of Aztec bitters
• Garnish: lime wheel, orange crecent, brandied cherry, mint sprig (not pictured)
  

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with three ice cubes. Short shake and strain into a pilsner glass full of crushed ice. Skewer garnishes on a pick and place on the top of the glass.

 

Moon Cocktail (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

I must be mistaken, but aren't "moon" themed drinks supposed to have apple brandy in them? Anyway, this cocktail was that kind of rich version of a Bamboo, which is a variation itself of a Martini. It is terrific for all of that boozy warmth with a lot more going on with it than a bone-dry Martini with a twist. 

I made use of Bloom dry gin and Alejandro amontillado sherry for this cocktail, which kept things on the lighter, floral side. It was when I got to creme de peche (peach flavored whiskey in my drink) and honey syrup that things get a little heavier. And that's not a bad thing. Altogether this was a grounded drink. You may have been asking for the moon, but you got something just as good. 

• 2 oz. Plymouth gin (Bloom used)
• 3/4 oz. amontillado sherry (Alejandro used)
• 1 tsp. creme de peche (peach whiskey used)
• 1/4 oz. acacia honey syrup
• lemon twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Squeeze lemon twist over it and discard (or keep it as pictured.)

Stringer Bell (Death & Co. Recipe)

Anytime there is celery juice in a citrus cocktail, it is a little weird but almost always in a good way. This is the case with the Stringer Bell. There's rich Amontillado as the nutty base of this cocktail, but lime and spicy tequila provide acid and heat to cut through that. Celery juice is surprisingly bitter and that is helped along with Cynar--so now there's celery and artichoke in a sherry cocktail, right? It's almost too strange to believe. A generous helping of cane sugar and a pinch of kosher salt brings this cocktail back from the brink and helps you experience it as sort of a bitter and spicy Margarita (more Spanish than Mexican) and a lot of fun to serve people without telling them what's in it first. 

• 1 12 oz. Amontillado sherry (Alexandro used)
• 1/2 oz. jalapeno-infused tequila (Sauza used)
• 1/4 oz. Cynar (Cynar 70-proof used)
• 1/2 oz. celery juice
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. cane sugar syrup
• pinch koshur salt
• celery stick garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass with a large format ice cube. Garnish with the celery stick. 

 

Shoots And Ladders (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Death & Co. have a handful of fortified wine cocktails. Some of these, like Shoots and Ladders, are low ABV cocktails. They are bold on flavor, but with fortified wine as the main ingredient, they are light on alcohol and you can have several of them in one sitting with no problem. 

This cocktail is served neat like an Old Fashioned, but it is far more herbal and spicy. Lots of infusions in here: basil infused Dolin Blanc and jalapeno infused blanco tequila. I'm trying out a new ingredient as well, Alexandro Amontillado is comparable to Lustau's Amontillado in price and style. It is dry and nutty and full of oak flavor. It is one of the two main components of this rich cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. basil-infused Dolin blanc
• 1 1/2 oz. Amontillado (Alexandro used)
• 1/2 oz. jalapeno-infused blanco tequila (Sauza used)
• 1/2 tsp. cane sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass. (Optional smacked basil leaf garnish.)

Broken Oath (Death And Co. Recipe)

 

Death & Co. has many Martini and Old Fashioned variations among their recipes. This is one of their Manhattan variations with Mezcal--a perfectly suitable substitute for whiskey. In addition to the vermouth and main spirit, they added Galliano and rich sherry. This takes this drink in a cordial direction, and that is fitting because they serve it in a Nick& Nora glass. (I'm using a cordial glass because I don't have a Nick & Nora.) Chocolate and cinnamon from the Aztec bitter is a perfect finishing touch to this new classic showing off the spirits coming to us by way of Mexico and Spain.

• 1 1/2 oz. mezcal (Del Maguey Vida used)
• 3/4 oz. Lustau Amontillado sherry (Lustau East India Soleara used)
• 3/4 oz. cocchi vermouth di Torino
• 1/2 oz. Galliano
• 2 dashes Aztec bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. 

Park Life Swizzle (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

When I saw that there was an Old Tom Swizzle recipe in the Death & Co. book, I had to try it. I didn't have Ransom, which is what is specified, and rather than using Vitae's mild tasting Old Tom, I went in another direction.

I know that Ransom is very malty and dank, for lack of a better word. So my choice was homemade Schiedam gin with malt whiskey infused with juniper and citrus. It was dank! This is a spicier lime juice swizzle that tastes more tropical than the Robert Johnson Swizzle. The spice comes from Angostura bitters on top, but also the ginger syrup (which I made by adding ginger brandy to my syrup). It smelled incredible. It tasted even better. The problem with swizzles, though, is that they are a pain to make and they don't last long.

Here's how it's done:

• 1 oz.  Ransom Old Tom (homemade Schiedam used)
• 1 oz. amontillado sherry
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. ginger syrup
• 6 dashes Angostura bitters
• mint sprig garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice. Shake and pour into a chilled pilsner glass. Add more crushed ice and use a bois lele to stir and chill. Add more ice and continue stirring until the glass freezes over and the contents of the glass reach the top. Dash bitters on the ice and garnish with mint. 

A Few Of My Favorite Things

 

This isn't my recipe, though these are a few of my favorite things, that's for sure. Difford's Guide says that a British bartender Dale Bebington invented this, and I have to say it displays superior taste.

Last weekend it snowed in Virginia, and this recipe really called to me. Even the name from the Sound Of Music felt especially appropriate for winter. I had all the things for the recipe, essentially. Genepy is alpine spirit along the same lines as Chartreuse, it is even French, and I believe it comes from the many unsuccessful attempts to replicate Chartreuse back during a time when it was in short supply.

Other ingredients include Martel cognac, which was specified in the recipe as well as mildly sweet Amontillado sherry. Instead of Aperol, I have Ambrosia by Don Ciccio & Figili, amari makers in the U.S. capital. Lastly, a dash of Angostura bitters and orange bitters. It's like a stirred pie!

• 1/3 oz. Martell cognac
• 1/3 PX sherry Amontillado used
• 1/3 Aperol or red sweet Italian amaro (Ambrosia used)
• 1/6 green Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 dash Hella orange bitters
• lemon zest twist
  

Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. Twist lemon over the glass and drop it in.

The Highlander

 

I love scotch; I love the peat smoke, the sweet maltiness of the barley, and the raisin-like fug of sherry cask that you get from whisky of the northern Scottish Highlands. For me, a chilled scotch cocktail is a rival of any bourbon or rye Manhattan. But quality single malt scotch is super expensive right now. It's not something that you just want to throw into a mixed drink and slam quickly. That is why I went to some effort to create a scotch cocktail using local Virginia whiskey.

Scotch has a flavor that is hard to imitate with other ingredients. Blended scotch is particularly hard, but it is possible to knock off regional expressions of the Highland spirit. Highland whiskey is well rounded, with it's maltiness central to the flavor profile. Smoke is understated in most cases, but some distillers rely on used sherry casks to finish their whisky. In The Highlander, I bring together each of these flavor notes from three different ingredients: Virginia beer whiskey, smoked black tea leaves, and amontillado sherry.

First, a limited release of MurLarkey Brutality uses Octoberfest beer for its mash build. That means actual beer, hops and all, is distilled and aged for two years in oak. The whiskey is then proofed down with more beer, which gives Brutality its mellow malty flavor. Octoberfest lager is malty beer to begin with. That brings this Virginia whiskey closer to scotch than bourbon. German style hops linger in the finish, also imitating the style of Highland peat water. 

For smoke, I used a tsp. of lapsang souchong tea leaves steeped in whiskey. This black tea that is smoked on pine embers. When steeped in whiskey, it is not as smokey as it is if you steep it in hot water. This is further downplayed when used in small proportion in the cocktail, but it hints at smoke that the Brutality does not have in itself.

Finally I cut the corner of finishing in sherry by adding amontillado sherry in a small proportion. This also rounds out some of the beer notes of the Brutality and takes the flavor toward the fruitier style of Highland whiskey. 

• 2 oz. MurLarkey Brutality Octoberfest whiskey
• 1/2 oz. lapsang souchong infused whiskey
• 1/2 oz. amontillado sherry

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

Quarter Deck (With Pusser's Rum)

This simple cocktail is part of a pair of naval drinks that swing towards rich and sweet aperitifs or desserts. The "Deck" cocktails that include the Poop Deck and this one are very similar in that they use an aged spirit and a fortified wine in a simple mixture that is served up. I've re-done this cocktail to bring it a little closer to something that might be enjoyed on a British Navy vessel some hundred and sixty years ago. In a previous iteration I used spiced rum, which isn't historically accurate.

As it appears now, the sherry is medium sweet and the Pusser's is Caribbean dark rum with lots of character from its wooden still and barrel aging. A sweeter sherry is probably appropriate for balance, so I added a touch of brown sugar syrup that blends with the dark sugary notes almost imperceptively.

• 1 1/2 oz. dark rum (Pusser's used)
• 3/4 oz. cream sherry (Amontillado used plus 1/2 tsp. brown sugar syrup for balance)
• 1 tsp. lime juice

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

Rum and Sherry

 

I expected this to be a somewhat dry cocktail. It calls for light rum and amontillado  sherry, which is sort of medium dry, or at least that is what this blend of Dona Luisa amontillado says. I'm glad that I used the more rich Plantation 3-Stars blend of Caribbean rums rather than a super dry rum. The effect of the drink, and not all amontillados are this sweet, was like a Manhattan. 

This cocktail is more for a whiskey drinker than a rum drinker. Particularly, I think, scotch lovers will find this one attractive. I'm interested now in doing a bourbon barreled rum and sherry or sweet vermouth to see if I like this very classy way to enjoy nice rum.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Plantation 3-Stars used)
• 3/4 oz. amontillado sherry (or medium dry sherry. Dona Luisa used)
• maraschino cherry

Combine rum and sherry in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop the cherry into the glass.

St. Patrick's Day Fizzy Drinks with Proper Twelve

 

I've revisited two good drinks for St. Patrick's day, or any day so long as you have a bar stocked with Irish whiskey and some quality mix-ins. My first attempt at the Wicklow Cooler was with orgeat. This is an alternative recipe using falernum. Either way, you get one of those tropical whiskey drinks that somehow work fine. You could be enjoying this on any island, but it just so happens that the whiskey comes from the island of Ireland. 

• 1 1/2 oz. Irish whiskey (Proper Twelve used)
• 1 oz. dark rum (Vitae Barrel-Aged used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 tsp. falernum (homemade used)
• ginger ale

Combine all ingredients except soda in a shaker or blender. Pour into a chilled Collins glass. Top with ginger ale.

Next up is the Glenbeigh Fizz. This is a nutty and pink cocktail that should be done in a long drink. My first attempt used different ingredients, but now I have quality Creme de Noyaux from Tempus Fugit and Proper Twelve Irish whiskey. The recipe calls for medium sherry and I remember using cream sherry. This update, Amontillado or lighter sherry only, increases the nuttiness of the drink and really draws forward the grain flavor of the whiskey.

• 1 1/2 oz. Irish whiskey
• 1 oz. medium sherry
• 1/2 oz. creme de noyaux (Tempus Fugit creme de noyaux used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• club soda

Mix all ingredients except club soda and lemon slice with ice in a shaker. Pour into a chilled highball glass and fill with club soda.

Straight Law Cocktail

The name of this cocktail suggests that this drink belongs to the "Judge" category of cocktails. These are usually a clear spirit served up with juices or wines. On second look, though, this is a simple stirred cocktail designed to spread out the rich nutty flavor of Amontillado sherry.

I chose to use ImaGination gin that MurLarkey Distillery gave me because it has a deep earthy character. You mostly notice the large proportion of sherry in this drink, but that one ounce of ImaGination comes through with botanicals like grains of paradise.

• 3 oz. Amontillado sherry Lustau Los Arcos used)
• 1 oz. gin (MurLarkey ImaGination gin used)

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