Lillet Rosé has just launched on the public market, but it was introduced to the industry last year, garnering some serious recognition: it was awarded a Chairman’s Trophy at the 2011 Ultimate Beverage Challenge, and a 94/Excellent Rating and a Gold Medal in the 2011 San Francisco Spirits Competition.

Lillet Rosé is created from a blend of the red and white Grand Cru Bordeaux wine varietals used to produce Lillet Blanc and Lillet Rouge. Those varietals include Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscatel, the combination of which provides the structure, fruitiness and floral bouquet. The wine is then married with orange liqueurs crafted from sweet orange peels from Spain and bitter orange peels from Haiti, and a secret blend of fruit liqueurs. A small amount of Peruvian quinine is added to the final blend, and the rose color is achieved by adding additional red fruit liqueurs and a very small amount of Lillet Rouge.

All that equals Lillet Rosé, which is available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $19.99. Mix it into cocktails (using it in place of vermouth is a good starting point), or sip it over ice with a slice of grapefruit.

Most Palmetto recipes call for equal parts white rum and dry vermouth, plus a couple dashes of aromatic bitters.  So I whipped one up and… didn’t like it.  I crafted the drink two more times using different white rums and—having two dry vermouths on hand—switched that up as well.  I still wasn’t impressed.  Drinkable, but barely.

A bit of research led me to a variation that skips the white rum and dry vermouth and opts instead for aged rum and sweet vermouth.  The switch made, thankfully, a huge and positive difference.  This new Palmetto was complex, deep and delicious.  I tried a few different aged rums before settling on Mount Gay Extra Old, and as for vermouth, Martini and Rossi worked fine but Carpano Antica Formula was spot on.

Palmetto Cocktail

1.25 ounces aged rum
1.25 ounces sweet vermouth
2 dashes orange bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of orange peel.

Photo: Rum Dood

For a drink with some very potent flavors, namely chartreuse and Campari, the Tailspin is surprisingly well balanced, layering its flavors quite well.  Sweeter and more herbal than a Last Word or Negroni, it’s an interesting little concoction.  And composed of ingredients that any respectable bar will carry—plus many well-stocked home bars—it’s easy to make.

The Tailspin

1 oz dry gin
1 oz Green Chartreuse
1 oz sweet vermouth
2-3 dashes Campari

Rinse a chilled glass with Campari, and discard the excess. Stir other ingredients with ice, and strain into the glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

The Tailspin is sweet and herbal with a hint of bitterness, and the underlying gin isn’t lost in the background.  I liked it overall, but for round 2, I used more Campari to temper the sweetness. Rather than simply using it as a rinse, I dumped a full bar spoon into the drink.  The result adhered better to my personal tastes, which lean toward the bitter.

If you like the Tailspin, try the Bijou.  Simply substitute orange bitters for the Campari, and you’ve got it.

I perused several gin-based cocktail recipes before landing on the Hearst, a fine cocktail that I haven’t had the pleasure of knowing for at least a few years.  Comprised of gin, sweet vermouth—rather than the classic dry vermouth and gin pairing—orange bitters and aromatic bitters, it’s a well-balanced cocktail that packs a boozy wallop.

The gin and sweet vermouth work together to create a gorgeous aroma and clean, crisp flavor.  I tried it with a few different gins, but settled on Plymouth, my go-to source for sustenance, inspiration and general happiness.

Hearst Cocktail Recipe:

2oz gin
1oz sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters

Stir with cracked ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The topic for February is Absinthe. That much maligned, misunderstood, mistreated spirit, suddenly plentiful again in the US and other parts of the world. Absinthe played a role, whether large or small, in a variety of great cocktails from the 1800s and early 1900s – the Sazerac, Absinthe Suissesse, Corpse Reviver No. 2… I’m getting thirsty. So let’s celebrate absinthe’s history, and it’s future, with all manner of cocktails using absinthe.

I drink my fair share of Sazeracs and Corpse Revivers, and for good reason – they’re delicious.  But I wanted a drink that showcases absinthe as more than just a rinse or dash; and rather than going the route of an Absinthe Frappe, I decided to meet absinthe halfway.  So for this round of Mixology Monday, I’ve pulled out a cocktail that uses just enough absinthe to lightly slap you in the face, without knocking your teeth out – the Chrysanthemum Cocktail.

This little fellow is one of the few cocktails that uses vermouth as its main ingredient.  In fact, it uses a hearty two ounces of vermouth. Joined by one ounce of Benedictine and a teaspoon of absinthe, the Chrysanthemum comes together beautifully.  The floral vermouth tempers the strong flavors of the Benedictine and absinthe without being lost in the shuffle.

The Chrysanthemum Cocktail

2 ounces dry vermouth
1 ounce Benedictine
1 teaspoon absinthe

Stir with ice until cold, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a wide strip of orange peel.

Despite the name, the Naked Lady cocktail is actually somewhat classy, and an inexpensive Valentine’s date. It’s  an aperitif with elements of the aromatic (vermouth), the sweet (grenadine, apricot brandy) and the sour (lemon juice).  The result is a well-balanced cocktail with a name that’s sure to up your street cred, like when you tell your friends about your evening at home with five, maybe six naked ladies.

Naked Lady

1.5 oz Bacardi Superior Rum
1.5 oz Noilly Prat Rouge Vermouth
.5 oz Apricot brandy
.5 oz Pomegranate Grenadine
.5 oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Lemon peel

Shake all ingredients until very cold, and double strain that baby into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with the lemon peel.

Comprised of five simple ingredients found in any reasonably stocked home bar, the Bronx Cocktail is basically a perfect martini with orange juice added.  It’s a classic, pre-prohibition cocktail that’s a bit fruity—but not overly sweet—and its base spirit, gin, is a good carrier for both the sweet and dry vermouth.

This innocuous looking cocktail packs quite a punch, and the addition of OJ makes it a healthy alternative to not drinking cocktails.

Ingredients:

2 ounces gin
1/4 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz dry vermouth
1 ounce fresh orange juice
1 dash orange bitters

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.

For a visual on how to craft the Bronx Cocktail, here’s a quick instructional video from Dave Harrison of Lush Life Productions – The Bronx Cocktail in 12 Seconds.

As with many cocktails, origins of the Martinez are a hazy mess of conflicting stories.  Some say it was created by a gent named Martinez, while others claim it was crafted by famed bartender Jerry Thomas for a fellow traveling to Martinez, California.  Both sound reasonable enough to me, but whatever its origins, it’s another good excuse to combine gin and maraschino liqueur, which work well in drinks like the Aviation and Last Word.

Proportions for the Martinez vary greatly, with some calling for a 2:1 ratio of gin to vermouth, and others calling for the opposite.  I tried a few different variations before settling on the one below, which offers plenty of sweetness but enough gin to maintain its integrity.  Orange bitters worked pretty well in place of Angostura, but I preferred the latter.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1/4 ounce maraschino liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters

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

The Derby

1 ounce bourbon
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce orange curacao
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lime.

Also see: Kentucky Derby Cocktails

With a disapproving nod to the west, Harry’s New York Bar in Paris created the Scofflaw cocktail in 1924, giving a new, tasty meaning to the term.  Traditionally composed of rye, dry vermouth, fresh lemon juice and grenadine, some modern interpretations have substituted Canadian blended whiskey for straight rye and Chartreuse for grenadine.  I prefer to stick with the original recipe.

The Scofflaw

1 1/2 ounces rye
1 ounce dry vermouth
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a twist of lemon.

Photo: Summit Sips