Princess Mary's Pride

A deliciously complex cocktail with apple brandy and Dubonnet. The recipe calls for 1/2 oz. dry vermouth, but I have Dubonnet blanc I need to use. The quinine bitterness of Dubonnet, especially the blanc means you don't need to have bitters for this cocktail to be interesting.

• 2 oz. apple brandy (Laird's used)
• 1 oz. Dubonnet rouge
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dubonnet blanc used)

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

Balmoral Cocktail (Revisited)

Last time I did the Balmoral Cocktail, I didn't have Dubonnet blanc and I used Lillet blanc instead. That wasn't a bad move by any means, but now I have the real deal. Since it is the only drink with Dubonnet blanc in the New York Bartender's Guide, I had to do it again to check it off my list.

Dubonnet blanc has bitter vegetable notes, making it less popular than its red brother. It matches very well with the peaty flavors of scotch. The cocktail has a nice traction from Angostura bitters and the quinquina bitters of the aromatized wine. You still taste the single malt peat of Glenfiddich 12, if that is your choice. Last time I used a blend and was a little underwhelmed. This is a good single malt cocktail, where the quality of the scotch goes a long way to improving the drink.

This also marks the last scotch drink I have to do to finish the New York Bartender's Guide. I'm closing in on 1000 cocktails soon, with bourbon all but finished as well. You'll see a lot more brandy cocktails in the future, I'm sure.

• 2 oz. scotch (Glenfiddich 12 single malt used)
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet rouge
• 1/2 oz. Dubonnet blanc
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters

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

Bonnie Prince Charley

Another Bonnie Prince cocktail dedicated to Prince Charley, the ill fated prince of Scotland. It was a quick fix and full of flavors I love: peaty scotch, licorice, lemon zest. Do this if you have Pernod or absinthe and don't worry about what happens to the prince.

•  1 1/2 oz. scotch
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dubonnet blanc used)
• dash of Pernod
• lemon twist

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

Coopers Town

Merry Christmas! I realize that this is an unusual cocktail to offer on Christmas as it isn't stuffed with peppermint or scotch or something. I actually chose it for the color scheme: red Carpano and green Dubonnet. It's pretty much a richer version of a Perfect Martini, and that makes it pretty good for any occasion. The mint sprig, key to differentiating it as Coopers Town (some guy in in that place probably had a little mint and threw it on a Martini and declared it the town drink) is just a nice touch, and actually lends to the fragrance. This cocktail is more interesting with tastier vermouths, or, like I did, Dubonnet blanc.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Dubonnet blanc used)
• mint sprig

Combine all ingredients except mint in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the mint sprig.

Prince Edward

The Drambuie company says that their recipe comes from the family of Prince Edward, known as the Bonnie Prince. That is why his name shows up on so many Drambuie recipes. I think I like this one better than the Bonnie Prince (made with gin) because the flavor of orange and scotch are so much more consistent.

• 1 1/2 oz. scotch
• 1/2 oz. Lillet blanc (Dubonnet blanc used)
• 1/4 oz. Drambuie
• preserved orange slice (sugar coated slice used)

Mix all ingredients except orange slice in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass (single large cube used). Garnish with orange slice. 

Bonnie Prince

This has been one of my favorites for about a decade. The Bonnie Prince is a gin drink with Lillet blanc and Drambuie. Actually I've seen several recipes that just list white wine as the grape spirit. So I used to make it with whatever I had on hand. I wanted to get Lillet blanc for an official post, but chose Dubonnet blanc instead.  Bonnie Prince is rich and full of citrus flavor, Lillet blanc adds bitter orange aromas. Dubonnet blanc tastes more like a dry herbal wine with a little of orange aroma, so it is a close bet. For now, I will use Dubonnet blanc for medium white aromatized wine in recipes that call for Lillet.

• 1 1/2 oz. dry gin
• 1/2 oz. Lillet blanc (Dubonnet blanc used)
• 1/4 oz. Drambuie
• orange twist

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