Glassware: Rocks Glass
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Jack Daniels Single barrel
1 oz. Cocchi Rossa
.25 oz. Pedro Ximenez Sherry
.25 oz. Averna
Garnish: Orange Twist
Directions: Combine ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Using a bar spoon, stir the drink 50 times and taste. If you prefer a lighter taste, continue to stir until the desired dilution level is reached. Strain over ice into a rocks glass, garnish, serve, and enjoy!
Flavor Profile: This is meant to be a bold drink. The flavor is strong, and the whiskey will be noticeable. However, the “bite” one normally associates on the back end of a strong whiskey will be replaced by a deep red wine-like velvet. Dark fruits, with raisins and figs, are a strong part of the body of this beverage. Plum, currant, and red grapes blend with a bittering agent to form a transition of tastes, traveling from vanilla and ending in mulled wine. Think of drinking a steak in a glass. The botanical and bitter finish mix with wine tannin and raisin. All the back-end ingredients, after the whiskey, provide body and balance yet also keep the stomach light and ready for another bite.
Background: This beverage is meant to be the progression in line with a traditional meal coursing and is set to pair with a bolder dish. The Manhattan is a drink similar in style. This version of the drink is made to go with a meal. The vermouth is made with another slightly bitter aromatized wine in the Cocchi Rossa that adds bright citrus and floral notes. However, replacing the bitters with a mix of bitter and sweet agents gives its body a feeling akin to charcoal and cooking on an open flame. Pedro Ximenez is known the world over for its unique flavor of raisins and molasses. When mixed with the classic bitterness of Averna, a balance of bitter and sweet places this cocktail on the right flavor profile to pair with the meat course. The Jack Daniels Single Barrel makes a bold and fitting choice here. Higher in abv (alcohol by volume), this liquor is meant to be big, bold, and upfront but elegant on the finish. Every bit of the 47% alcohol is there, but it is tantalizingly easy to drink due to its finish. This is the libation to pair with your main course. Big flavors and bold results, but shockingly easy to drink.
