Hailing from the historic New Orleans restaurant La Louisiane, this spiritous cocktail is a less vaunted member of the Southern cocktail canon and contains many liquid tropes of New Orleans drinking: Peychaud’s bitters, a touch of absinthe, and rye whiskey (all chiefly associated with the Sazerac); Benedictine (notable in the Vieux Carré); and red vermouth (relating it to its northern neighbor, the manhattan). Due to the precision required in balancing it through proper measurement, this drink has long been a litmus test in the training of all Maison Premiere bartenders, alongside more prominent names such as the martini and the daiquiri. The recipe was first printed in the 1938 classic New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix ’Em.

　　This recipe was excerpted from ‘The Maison Premiere Almanac' by Joshua Boissy, Krystof Zizka, and Jordan Mackay. Buy the full book on Amazon.

Ingredients

　　5 dashes absinthe (such as La Muse Verte)

　　5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

　　½ ounce Bénédictine

　　¾ ounce La Quintinye Rouge vermouth

　　1¾ ounces Wild Turkey 101 rye whiskey

　　Skewered candied cherry, for garnish

　　In a mixing glass, combine the absinthe, bitters, Bénédictine, vermouth, and rye, and then fill with ice. Stir the mixture rapidly to chill and strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a skewered candied cherry.

　　Reprinted with permission from The Maison Premiere Almanac by Joshua Boissy, Krystof Zizka, and Jordan Mackay, with William Elliott, copyright Premiere Enterprises, LLC © 2023. Photographs by Eric Medsker. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Buy the full book from Amazon or Clarkson Potter.