Doc's Dram (Death & Co.)

I get it. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," as the saying goes. Well, this is a prescription for happiness. Another cocktail making use of apple butter (I am using a local grower names Shawnee for my butters and jams.) This is a fall drink to end them all, I think. Solera sherry, rye, maple syrup and apples? What could be better?

But before you start to think this drink is all sweetness with no depth, I'll point out that Ransom Old Tom gin (my homemade Schiedam gin used) is some funky stuff. That and Angostura make this an exceedingly rich and interesting cocktail. Not a one-note fall sipper.

• 1 1/2 oz. rye (Catoctin Creek used)
• 1/2 oz. Ransom Old Tom gin (homemade Schiedam used)
• 1/2 oz. Lustau East India Solera sherry
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. apple butter
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 apple fan garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled double rocks glass with a single cube. Garnish with the apple fan. 

 

Little Engine (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Some fun ingredients in this cocktail make it a sweet dessert drink, or something to enjoy on a fall day. Apple butter makes great spiced and sweetened cocktails and lends a little richness of color and flavor. Maple syrup, though, is almost necessary to balance the acids in this cocktail. 

I love how a mild scotch and port come together to make for a fruity spirit drink that almost feels like a sweet Sling. 

• 2 oz. Famous Grouse scotch
• 1/2 oz. 10-year tawny port
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. maple syrup
• 1 tsp. apple butter
• 1 apple fan garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with three ice cubes. Short shake and strain into a double rocks glass full of crushed ice. Garnish with the apple fan.