374. Whiskey Cocktail

My interpretation:
  2 oz Henry McKenna 10 Year Bonded
  1 dash Angostura Bitters
  1 dash Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao 

Fill mixing-glass with ice, stir, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This traditional recipe recalls the earlier phase of mixology when bitters and sugar or sweetening liqueur were dashed in with ice to round off the edges of a bourbon. Straub 1913 specifies cube sugar instead of syrup, with Green River Whisky (“the whisky without a headache”) and lemon peel; for all intents and purposes, an Old Fashioned. The new fashioned, of course, exchanged syrup for sugar; here, it is curaçao. McElhone in 1927 specifies gomme syrup with Scotch or Rye for the base. Craddock has 4 dashes of syrup and uses Canadian Club for his base. The Old Waldorf Bar Book, showing the older recipe, calls for whisky with dashes of angostura and of gum (misprinted “gin”), and then gives the “old style” option with lump sugar, lump ice, and lemon peel. Grohusko figures, what’s the use?—new is better than old.
 

 

153. Good Fellow Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz Henry McKenna Bourbon Aged 10 Years
  1 oz Dolin Rouge
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  1 dash homemade Calisaya

Stir well (20–30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, serve. — This cocktail first appears in Straub 1913 and is borrowed without change in JM 1916. The whisky formerly specified was Green River, which was touted as producing no headaches.
 

143. Fourth Regiment Cocktail

My interpretation:
  1 oz McKenna 10 Year Bonded Whisky
  1 oz Dolin Rouge
  1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
  1 dash Angostura bitters
  1 dash Bitter Truth celery bitters

Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass, garnish with lemon peel, serve. — This classic Manhattan riff comes to JM 1916 from an unknown source, not appearing in Straub 1913. While it is usually made with Rye these days, I take Jack’s generic whisky as an invitation to defy the trend, and the experiment is successful on the whole, the celery working nicely with the flavors of the bourbon.
 

107. Crescent Cocktail

My interpretation:
  0.75 oz McKenna 10 Year
  0.75 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino
  0.33 oz Amaro CioCiaro
  1 tsp homemade raspberry syrup

Shake well (20-30 seconds), strain into cocktail glass, and serve. — This Manhattan riff takes a cue from Jack’s very own Brooklyn, amps down the main ingredients, amps up the Amer Picon, dropping the bitters and making for a sweeter drink with bitter complexity from the Picon and just a touch of tartness. To augment the bitterness of the CioCiaro I opt for Cocchi amber vermouth.