Fairbank Cocktail

Because I had crème de noyeaux I made the Fairbank Cocktail:

• 1.75 ounces gin
• 0.75 ounce dry vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan’s #6 recommended)
• 2 dashes crème de noyeaux

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

One of the fun things about this little experiment is trying to locate all of the ingredients for these vintage cocktails. I bought a bottle of crème de noyeaux at [Binny’s][1] in Chicago, and I just wanted to point out to my two readers the effort I go to in order to get an ingredient that I will use on the order of “dashes”.

According to Wikipedia, [crème de noyaux][2] (they leave off the “e”) is a liqueur made from almonds, and after tasting it you could probably get away with using [Amaretto][3] (which is a brandy-based almond liqueur) instead. I was only able to find the [Hiram Walker][4] version which is artificially colored red, and it reminded me of cherry cough syrup (as did the flavor, although without a medicinal aftertaste). It made my version of the Fairbank very pink.

The drink itself is a modified martini and I found it to be just okay. I don’t think the crème de noyeaux added much, at least to my palate. Note that while the name is attributed to the actor [Douglas Fairbanks Sr.][5], the earliest version of the recipe, from 1922, left off the “s”, which is thought to reference a Senator from the period.

Rating: 3/5

Notes: My friend Jono introduced me to [Death’s Door gin][6], and since I just bought a bottle I decided to use it in this drink. It is very tasty. The vermouth was Dolin Blanc. I used Angostura [orange bitters][7] since I had it on hand.

[1]: crème de noyeaux [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cr%C3%A8me_de_Noyaux [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaretto [4]: http://hiramwalker.com/products.php?brand=bar%20essentials [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Fairbanks [6]: http://www.deathsdoorspirits.com/spirits