Vanderbilt
Recipe:
- 67,5ml Cognac
- 22,5ml cherry liqueur
- 5ml simple syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir on ice until sufficiently chilled, strain into a prechilled cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon zest.
A very nice, elegant standard cognac drink. Not too sweet and the Angostura bitters come across as intensely as they rarely do. The lemon for the aroma is great to liven up the fresh notes of all components, you have fresh grapes, not too sweet dried fruit, even the cherry seems - although the Cherry Heering is rather the dark sweet type - due to the lemon zest quite fresh and still slightly sour. In the mouth then a bit more solid, dried fruit, apricot and peach, rancio, nice clove and cinnamon, some star anise and allspice, then the beautiful cherry, surprisingly well integrated ("discreet" would be exaggerated), it really come through in the last third, spicy-rich-elegant finish. Classy!
Maybe it was also as fantastic due to the darn good 1980s Frapin VSOP I have here, which somehow makes EVERY cognac drink fabulous. Whenever you're afraid something might not shine through enough, this one does. Although only 40% it has more body and standing power than some with 46%.
Oh and what of course fits like a hammer on a nail here: the Cherry & Pinot Noir Bitters from Bonpland as a bonus, probably not easy to find outside GER/AT/CH.
Source: “The Savoy Cocktail Book” (1930) - Harry Craddock
