Sherry Twist Cocktail (No. 2)

(6 People)

Take the juice of 1 Orange (1/2 oz Orange Juice), 2 glasses of Whisky (1 oz Sazerac Straight Rye Whiskey), 2 1/2 glasses of Sherry (1 1/2 oz Williams Humbert Dry Sack) and 1/2 glass of Cointreau (1/4 oz Cointreau). Add two cloves (bare drop clove oil), squeeze in the juice of 1/4 lemon (1/4 oz Lemon Juice), and add half a turn of the pepper-mill (pinch cayenne pepper). Fill the shaker with cracked ice. Shake and serve.

And you thought Sherry Twist (No. 1) was weird! I found a recipe for this one in Patrick Gavin Duffy’s “Official Mixer’s Manual” which called for “a little cayenne”, instead of the black pepper in the Savoy drink. As Duffy is usually a more accurate transcriber of other’s recipes, I went with his recommendation. Also, my cloves are kind of old and tired, so I went with a touch of clove oil instead.

A similar cocktail to Sherry Twist (No. 1), this is also a sort of spiced Sherry punch for 1. It is also fairly similar in character, on the light side with a mild acidity and not much sweetness. The Cayenne gives it a little prickliness. Not sure which I preferred, perhaps No. 1, as it is a bit less complex. Still, No. 2 isn’t bad either, and both are fairly unique.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.