272. Pheasant Cocktail

My interpretation:

  1 oz Rémy Martin VSOP

  1 oz Hayman’s Old Tom Gin

In mixing-glass half-full of broken ice shake 20–30 seconds, strain into cocktail glass, serve. — My interpretation of the recipe here is admittedly incorrect. Though no type of gin is specified in 1933, the earlier editions all indicate some form of dry (or Gordon’s) gin. My error came from the (usually correct) assumption that an unspecified “gin” in JM 1933 means something not “dry,” i.e., Old Tom, or occasionally, Holland Gin. Nevertheless, the recipe works well this way, and is a bit softer and more blended in effect. The original formulation is more bracing. We might call this variant the Tom Pheasant. The Pheasant Cocktail first appears in JM1908 and is picked up by Straub in 1913. Gordon dry is still indicated in JM 1916, but the last edition introduces the generic switch for unknown reasons.