198. John Wood Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.5 oz The Famous Grouse
  1.5 oz Casa Mariol Vermut Negra
  1 T lemon juice
  1 dash homemade kümmel
  1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake well (30 seconds), strain, and serve. — This cocktail, resembling almost a punch in its attentive balance, appears first in the Savoy Cocktail Book with Irish rather than Scotch whisky, and is then picked up for JM 1933 with a slight change. I have to admit, I think Jack improved this recipe by the substitution of Scotch, though I don’t know if John Wood approved it.

 

7. Allies Cocktail

 

My interpretation:
  generous 1.5 oz Hawthorn London Dry Gin
  scant 1.5 oz Dolin Blanc
  2 long dashes homemade kümmel

Shake well (on cracked ice) and strain into cocktail glass. Here we are supposed to have all the Allies— Gin for England, Dry Vermouth for France, and Kümmel for Russia (not Germany, which is a long story). What we might call today a slightly interesting Martini riff. I went with the Blanc because it’s so good. It might be just as fine with the Extra Dry, but I can’t say. It’s still French, at least.