Silver Cocktail

This is another cocktail that is similar to an Aviation. It is that trusty gin and maraschino liqueur combination that keeps coming back in a good way. In this instance, there's a lot more dry vermouth to enjoy in here. I also liked spicing things up with Vigilant gin from Joseph Magnus Distillery in D.C. Their gin is dry and loaded with interesting botanicals like tarragon, sesame, grapefruit and sumac. This is one cocktail that stands out with a good gin base but would fall flatly otherwise.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1 tsp. maraschino liqueur
• 3 dashes orange bitters (Regan's used)
• lemon twist

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

Smiler Cocktail

I think of the "Smiler" as an insult used on people who don't have anything to say but stand around enjoying the comedy of life. Someone will call them out as a "ga'damn smiler." This is really a very old abasement, though. And I image this is an old drink.

It's bitter, it's sweet, and it really feels like a classic variation of a Martini created at a hotel trying to use available ingredients to do something unique. Try it, you'll be a smiler too.

• 1 oz. dry vermouth
• 1 oz. sweet vermouth
• 1 oz. gin
• 1/2 tsp orange juice
• dash Angostura bitters

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

Seaboard

The word seaboard refers to the direction toward the coast, so it is fitting for such a light and tropical punch drink. And when I say punch, don't assume that this drink is weak by any means. It belongs to a maritime family of cocktails that include Navy Grog, the Poop Deck, Any Port In A Storm, and a number of Admiral themed drinks. You see that these drinks are pretty stiff with a combination of gin (always presents) and maybe a rum or whiskey. The liquors don't always suggest the tropics, but they imply the presence of stiff English gin and other colonial spirits consumed by sailors on those trans-Atlantic voyages.

• 2 oz. whiskey (Black Velvet Special Reserve used)
• 1 oz. gin (Vigilant London Dry used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar
• mint sprig

Combine all ingredients except for mint sprig in a shaker full of ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. Garnish with the mint sprig. 

Renaissance

A lovely name, and appropriate, for a lovely drink idea. This is pretty much a Gin Milk Punch concept with the addition of fino sherry. Much of the spice does call to mind renaissance flavors of the spice trade. There's tarragon, juniper, citrus, thyme, and berries from the gin. Then there's nutty grape flavors from the sherry and nutmeg for the garnish.

The worry with creamy drinks is that they will be too heavy. Really only 1/5 of the drink is cream. The rest is a lot of light spirits that come through almost as if you are drinking them neat. So this doesn't have to be a dessert drink, though that's a pretty good time to have it.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1/2 oz. fino sherry
• 1/2 oz. half-and-half
• fresh grated nutmeg

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass full of ice. Grate nutmeg on top.

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Pink Pussycat

The name alone will make this a hit on a cocktail menu, with people tripping over themselves to order it. And this kitty is easy to make with stuff you might have around at home or any bar, except for the pineapple spear. That's why I am making it now. Fresh pineapple only keeps so long!

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 4 oz. pineapple juice
• dash grenadine 
• pineapple spear

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish with pineapple spear.

Newbury

This is pretty much a very Sweet Martini. I'm not sure it deserved a different name except that there is the addition of 1/4 teaspoon of triple sec (which is a way of adding sweet orange bitters to a Sweet Martini).

Vigilant gin is so bracing in a Martini, so a sweeter variation did the spirit justice. You can taste the tarragon, grapefruit, and juniper of the gin behind the soft caramel sweetness of Dolin. Since I rarely have the same drink twice anymore, a Martini variation like this one was nice to return to.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Dolin used)
• 1/4 tsp. triple sec
• lemon twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Squeeze the twist and drop it in.

Road Rummer

Very impressive despite its diminutive size, just like the real road rummer. It is spicy and strong with the sweetness and color coming from a teaspoon of grenadine and a quarter teaspoon of Pernod.

The original recipe of this drink calls for 2 oz. gin and 1/2 oz. dry vermouth in a cocktail glass, but the glass is way too big for the amount of liquid. I used my sour glass instead. But this drink is more spicy and I felt it did it justice to substitute Don Ciccio & Figili finocchietto liqueur for the dry vermouth since the finocchietto plays very well with gin and Pernod--if anything it adds other herbs to the Pernod.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Don Ciccio & Figili finocchietto substituted)
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• 1/4 tsp. Pernod

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

Russian Cocktail

Like the Ninotchka, the Russian Cocktail is a vodka and creme de cacao drink. I'm finding that this combination is very pleasing (especially when it comes to the clarity of the drink) if not a little sugary. Gin, like Vigilant, adds spicy flavors that make drinking it more interesting.

• 2 oz. vodka (Stolichnaya used)
• 1 1/2 oz. creme de cacao
• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)

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

Merry Widow

Oh, how cute! This drink is pink--with bitters. Such a dry and herbal bitter cocktail deserves to be named after a widow. Vigilant gin is an intense botanical lift to any cocktail. I also used the last of my Mancino vermouth with its 22 botanicals, so there's plenty of herbs and spice here. Then add Pernod for its anise and herbal flavor and Peychaud's bitters--three to five dashes means all five for me--and you get a pink color and citrus and absinthe herbal bitter notes. The effect is a drink that looks sweet but knocks you out with the first sip.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used)
• 1/2 oz. Pernod
• 3-5 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• lemon twist

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

Turf Cocktail

I really like the concept of this cocktail, an herbaceous and zesty gin cocktail with anise flavor. This time, though, I opted to omit the Pernod (which can be too overpowering even in small proportions.) In its place I used Don Ciccio & Figili's Finnochietto, a fennel and dill infusion with a softer anise flavor and less sweetness. Vigilant gin makes this a D.C. local spirits cocktail.

The result was really enjoyable. I even recommend using a whole ounce of Finnochietto in place of the dry vermouth, since it plays that role well, too. Just make this about the gin, lemon juice, and dry fennel liqueur and you have a mouth puckering cocktail with complexity.

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

Journalist

Newspaper writers have to grab a drink from time to time. This is a recommendation, perhaps? I can see a reporter bellying up and ordering this cocktail with its very tropical twists on a gin Martini. Lime juice, triple sec, bitters, all in small enough proportions to keep the Martini-ness intact, really change the drinking experience.

I felt that a lime wedge garnish was appropriate, but it is completely optional. Of course a good reporter must always remain vigilant. Therefore, Vigilant gin was a perfect pairing for this cocktail.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1 tsp. dry vermouth
• 1 tsp. sweet vermouth
• 1 tsp. triple sec
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

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

Buckeye Martini

Of course this Martini variation is just trying to point out the interesting look of a cocktail made with a black olive as a garnish. It has nothing to do with The Ohio State Buckeyes. That didn't stop me from breaking out my OSU paraphernalia for this photo.

I used Magnus & Co. Vigilant gin and Mancino vermouth, which made this gin Martini extremely spicy and interesting. The last sip involving taking down the olive was wonderfully rich and very different from a green olive's flavor.

• 3 oz. gin (Jos. A. Magnus Vigilant used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used) 
• black olive

Stir liquid ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with black olive. 

Seville

I get what this sherry and gin cocktail is trying to do. It packed with fresh orange juice and tastes like as Seville orange. I used fresh squeezed orange juice here and a bit less simple syrup that the tablespoon the recipe calls for. (My syrup is really thick.) This is one sherry cocktail that really hits hard but is super slammable.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 1/2 oz. fino sherry
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1 tbsp. simple syrup 
• orange twist

 Shake all ingredients except twist in a shaker full of ice. Pour into an Old Fashioned glass and garnish with the orange twist. 

Kup's Indespensable Cocktail

In what is increasingly likely to become a Martini Week, we have another variation in which a bartender, supposedly named Kup, came up with a unique Martini variation. This one has a huge vermouth component and requires a little more heft from its gin. Vigilant gin should do the trick, with one of the most robust and dry spiced gins profiles out there. This turns out to be a very rich and rewarding Martini.

• 2 oz. gin (Vigilant used)
• 3/4 oz. dry vermouth (Mancino used)
• 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth (Dolin used)
• orange twist

Stir all ingredients except orange twist in a mixing glass full of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

Paisley Martini/ AKA Smoky Martini

The Paisley Martini is pretty much a gin Martini with a touch of smoky scotch, hence it's other name. Paisley is that Persian rug pattern that looks like a water drop or seed pod blowing in the wind. I don't know what that has to do with scotch or the drink itself, though. Smokey is the dominant direction of the drink.

So I made a few unusual choices for this cocktail. One was picking Glenlivit Nadurra with its peaty barrel aging that gives it a great smoke character. It's not a big, bold Islay, but it punches above its weight and blends better with a gin cocktail.

The other choice was to use D.C. local Magnus Vigilant gin for the cocktail. It's a very spicy gin that's strong and dry. The list of botanicals includes tumeric, cubeb, bergamot orange, white grapefruit, and something called marionberry. I can't help think this is a tip of the hat to Marion Barry, the former D.C. mayor.

Here's how to make this easy cocktail.

• 3 oz. gin (Magnus Vigliant gin used)
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1 tsp. scotch (Glenlivit Nadurra used)
• lemon twist

Combine gin and vermouth in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Float scotch on top and garnish with twist.