The Vesper

When Bond, James Bond, walks into a bar, he is known to order The Vesper:

• 3.0 ounces gin
• 1.0 ounce vodka
• 0.5 ounce Lillet Blanc

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker. Strain into a stemmed cocktail glass. Twist a large swathe of lemon peel over the surface of the drink and drop it in.

For a long time I did not like gin. But then there was the time I was at Vong’s in Chicago (sadly, now closed) with my friends Demetri and Cat. My usual go-to drink at that time was a highball of bourbon and ginger ale, but Vong’s didn’t have any ginger ale. The place was packed and Demetri ordered a martini with Bombay Sapphire gin, so rather than hold up the line I just decided to order the same to make it easy. I liked it so much I had two.

The Delicious Sour

I had heard that a lot of old cocktail recipes included eggs, and this is the first I’ve ever made, The Delicious Sour:

• 2.0 ounces applejack
• 2.0 ounces peach flavored brandy
• juice of one fresh lime (1 to 1.5 ounces)
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• soda water

Shake all but the soda in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a goblet or large cocktail glass. Add a splash of soda water.

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Knickerbocker á la Monsieur

While the majority of cocktails I’ve made so far are based on rye or gin, in the early “archaic” age of cocktails the default spirit was rum, as in the Knickerbocker á la Monsieur:

• 2.0 ounces Virgin Islands rum
• 0.5 ounces orange curaçao
• 0.5 ounce raspberry syrup
• 1.0 ounce lemon juice
• 1 slice orange
• 1 slice pineapple

Add all to crushed ice in a goblet, collins glass or tumbler, stir and serve. Garnish with more fruits in season.

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Blood and Sand

Not many cocktails today feature Scotch as the spirit, but this wasn’t always the case as is demonstrated by the Blood and Sand:

• 1.00 ounce Scotch
• 1.00 ounce orange juice
• 0.75 ounce cherry-flavored brandy
• 0.75 ounce sweet vermouth

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

There are a couple of vintage cocktails I’ve seen in the wild, and this is one of them. I have had it at least twice but while I found it good it never wowed me. Until now.

Tarus the Bull

When Justin Peregoy, the cocktail chef at the Oak Leaf, heard we were going there for my birthday he named that night’s special cocktail Tarus the Bull:

• 1.5 ounces Bulleit Rye
• 0.5 ounce blood orange juice
• 0.5 ounce Fernet Branca
• 0.5 ounce cinnamon simple syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Pour the first four ingredients into a bar glass with ice. Stir until cold then strain into a cocktail glass. Add bitters. Garnish with a lemon twist.

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East India Cocktail

This one caught my eye because I was looking at the index and saw kind of a large area where I had not chosen a drink. The one in the middle of the empty section was the East India Cocktail:

• 3.0 ounces brandy
• 0.5 ounces raspberry syrup
• one dash Angostura bitters
• one teaspoon orange curaçao
• one teaspoon maraschino liqueur

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.

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The Seelbach Cocktail

Champagne is tightly associated with New Year’s, and it also happens to be an ingredient in classic drinks such as the Seelbach Cocktail:

• 1.0 ounce bourbon (venerable Old Forester was specified)
• 0.5 ounce Cointreau
• 7 dashes Angostura bitters
• 7 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
• 5.0 ounces champagne

Pour the bourbon, Cointreau and bitters into a champagne flute and stir. Add the champagne. Stir again, and garnish with an orange twist.

This drink was named for the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky and was created in 1917. The recipe was lost during Prohibition but rediscovered in 1995, so I am certain this qualifies as vintage.