Twelve Mile Limit

Another cocktail with an interesting name, the Twelve Mile Limit:

• 1.0 ounce white rum (Appleton White Jamaican recommended)
• 0.5 ounce rye whiskey
• 0.5 ounce brandy (Hennessy VS recommended)
• 0.5 ounce grenadine
• 0.5 ounce lemon juice

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

I chose this drink specifically in an attempt to fill out sections of the index that looked a little bare.

The Brooklyn Cocktail

After a rather long day, it was nice to come home to The Brooklyn Cocktail:

• 2.00 ounces rye or bourbon
• 0.75 ounce dry vermouth
• 2 teaspoons Amer Picon
• 2 teaspoons maraschino liqueur

Stir in a mixing glass with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cocktail cherry

There are times when I want a particular type of cocktail. I don’t know if there is a word for it, but these are drinks made up just of spirits (with perhaps a dash or two of bitters) and might be considered “manly” drinks: your Manhattans and your martinis.

The Japalac Cocktail

Just because it looked pretty in the picture, I decided to make the Japalac Cocktail:

• Juice of 1/4 orange
• 0.75 ounce dry vermouth
• 0.75 ounce rye whiskey
• 1 teaspoon raspberry syrup

Combine in an iced cocktail shaker, and shake and strain into a small cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

I liked this drink. It is slightly sweet due to the syrup but it complements the rye well.

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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The Blinker

Continuing with my use of raspberry syrup, I present The Blinker:

• 2.0 ounces rye (Old Overholt specified by Dr. Cocktail)
• 1.0 ounce grapefruit juice
• 2 bar spoons (1 teaspoon) raspberry syrup

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

This is a very simple drink, and Dr. Cocktail only dedicates three sentences to it. The drink was first published in Patrick Gavin Duffy’s The Official Mixer’s Manual in 1934 and the name refers to a synonym for “blinders”, those little eye shade thingies which you might use to keep a horse focused on the road.

Harvest Rye

When the year end holidays roll around, I start to look forward to the Harvest Rye cocktail:

• 2 ounces High West Double Rye
• 1 ounce Sour Mix
• 1 ounce Apple Shrub
• Cider Foam
• Fresh nutmeg

Shake the first three ingredients in an iced shaker and pour into a cocktail glass. Top with cider foam and fresh nutmeg.

My first trip to the bluezoo restaurant at Walt Disney World in Orlando was formative in my desire to make cocktails. Not only do they revive vintage cocktails, they make a number of delicious new ones. When I first had this one, it was so new it didn’t even have a name. Chad Lobner, the General Manager, was kind enough to share some of their recipes with me. He works hard at trying to preserve the spirit behind the classics but adding new twists such as as the use of infusions, gels and foams.

Sherry Baby

In Chatham County, NC, where I live, we don’t have many options for cocktails. However, the always excellent Oak Leaf restaurant is usually a good place to go (especially on Tuesdays when cocktails are half price). They recently got a new bartender (more aptly “cocktail chef”) named Justin Peregoy who takes cocktails seriously, and he was kind enough to share his recipe for Sherry Baby:

• 1.50 ounces Redemption Rye
• 0.50 ounce Lustau Amontillado Sherry
• 0.25 ounce orange simple syrup
• 2-3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters

Combine the ingredients in a bar glass, top with ice and stir until the glass is completely chilled top to bottom. Strain into a long stemmed glass and garnish with an orange twist.

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