Preakness Cocktail

This rainy Friday I chose a 'Preakness Cocktail'.  It didn't sound very interesting but turned out to be one of the best drinks we've had recently. Definitely worth another try.

The recipe (page no. 140 from the Bartender's Guide):

3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1 1/2 oz Blended Whiskey (Jim Beam Bourbon, instead)
1 dash Bitters
1/2 teaspoon Benedictine

Stire with ice and strain into cocktail glass.
Add a twist of lemon peel.

Cheers!

Vieux Carré Cocktail

Today's cocktail was from the book "In the Land of the Cocktails, authored by the proprietors of Commander's Palace in New Orleans.  I selected a 'Vieux Carré Cocktail', which was very good, well worth having again.

The recipe:

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Old Overholt)
1 oz Cognac (E&J XO Brandy; not my $50 Cognac)
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/2 teaspoon Bénédictine
2 dashes Angostura Bitters
2 dashes Peychaud's Bitters

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vigorously and strain into a chilled Martini glass and serve immediately.

I chose to garnish with a twist of lime and a lemon wheel.

Hoot Mon Cocktail

The weather warmed up enough to enjoy our cocktail on the patio.

Since I have been making scotch cocktails, and they have been surprisingly good, I made another one tonight.  It is a 'Hoot Mon Cocktail' from page 98 of the Bartender's Guide.  It is less sweet than the Bobby Burns that I fixed last night (a very good drink) and was a better cocktail, at least to my taste.

 The recipe:

3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin - I ran out of Martini & Rossi and Noilly Prat)
1 1/2 oz Scotch (Dewar's White Label)

1 teaspoon Benedictine

Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass.  Twist a lemon peel and drop in glass.

Bobby Burns Cocktail

Tonight I selected another Scotch-based cocktail, similar to the one we had last night. This drink is a 'Bobby Burns Cocktail', found on page 43 of the Bartender's Guide.

The recipe:

1 1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Martini & Rossi)
1 1/2 oz Scotch (Dewar's White Label)
1 1/4 teaspoon Benedictine

Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass.  Add a
twist of lemon peel.

This was a very nice drink well worth repeating.

Sante!

Kentucky Colonel Cocktail

Winter is almost here so I decided to try a Whiskey cocktail tonight.  I found the 'Kentucky Colonel Cocktail' on page 109 in my Bartender.s Guide.

The recipe:

1/2 oz Benedictine
1 1/2 oz Kentucky Bourbon (Old Forester)

Stir with ice and strain into cocktail glass.  Add a twist of lemon peel. (As you can tell from the picture, I used a slice of orange as the garnish)

This cocktail was very good, the Benedictine tempers the taste of the Bourbon very nicely.

Cheers!