Et Moi Je Te Dis Maud
Recipe:
- 3/5 “Clos de Ducs” Armagnac
- 1/5 Izarra jaune
- 1/5 maraschino liqueur
Adapted Recipe:
- 60ml Armagnac VSOP
- 10ml Izarra Jaune (or Chartreuse Jaune)
- 10ml maraschino liqueur
(optional, rec. if you use Chartreuse:)
- 1 dash cinnamon heavy bitters (e.g. whisky barrel aged or aromatic)
- 1 dash fig/plum/cherry bitters
Stir all ingredients on ice for about 25-30 seconds, strain into a prechilled cocktail glass, no garnish.
I became aware of this absolutely wonderful drink through PUNCH magazine and an article in it that yearns for a revival of this cocktail (see first source).
Unfortunately, the article and also the PUNCH recipe page (second source) is sparse with exact information about the original recipe, apart from that only a few remnants can be found online.
As stated in the article, the drink was created by Maud Loty, she won the 1929 Cocktail Competition Championnat de Cocktail des Artistes in Paris with it and was notorious for her alcoholic peculiarities.
The PUNCH article already has an adapted recipe with a new ratio (as I found out later), and it also mentions that the original drink used the locally famous Basque herbal liqueur Izarra, which, like Chartreuse, is sold mainly in verte (green) and jaune (yellow) variants.
While it is close to Chartreuse, it also uses plums in the manufacturing process, among other things, and hence probably the addition of the "cinnamon and fig bitters" in the PUNCH article to come closer to the original drink.
Even on Wikipedia, by the way, this 1929 competition is mentioned in the Izarra article, as well as in several articles on the internet as the reason for the first national fame of the liqueur.
After some research I was able to locate the digitally archived cocktail book "Cocktails de Paris" exactly from the year 1929, so it’s very likely this cites the closest to or exact original recipe: "3/5 Clos de Ducs Armagnac, 1/5 Izarra jaune, 1/5 marasquin rocher".
So a slightly sweeter ratio than in the adapted one, but after testing I must clearly (as often with old cocktails, when the spirits were more edgy and thus you wanted more sweetener in the drinks) tend to the new ratio.
On the nose, the drink has notes of grapes, cinnamon, sweet grasses, almonds, light raisins, a touch of anise and herbal honey, elegant yet with good volume behind it, slightly sweet but not at all sugary or unbalanced.
Similar in the mouth, the Aarmagnac is nicely present in the start, a hint of Sazerac (the cognac variation) here and there, beautiful grapes and sweet grass, subtle herbal honey, herbal tea, fennel, anise, cinnamon, sage, linseed, some licorice, almond cookies in the finish, with a touch of nutmeg and dried plums/cherries.
I'll close here with Mr. Marshall's words from the PUNCH article, concerning the name of the drink:
“It translates to, “And me, I’d tell you … Maud,” but conversationally, it can be understood as “That’s Maud for ya.” Think shrugging, mischievous resignation in response to outlandish but on-brand behavior, the “It’s Britney, bitch” of its era.”
