This is the only cocktail I’ve ever come up with where I nailed the ingredients and proportions on the first try. I’ve never changed the recipe at all from the first night I made it! I still grin every time I take that first sip, because the drink is just perfectly what I wanted it to be, a delicious combination of oaky bourbon, spicy vermouth, earthy maraschino, and herbal Fernet.
It’s sort of a Brooklyn variant, but it’s a got a lot of other stuff going on. Plenty enough that I feel comfortable christening it as its own unique drink. I’ve scoured the web and there don’t seem to be any drinks with a similar ingredient set, much to my surprise, so I’m claiming ownership. Why “The Golden Word”? … well, because you’ll have nothing but good things to say when you try it!
Oh, last thing: we’re mainly keeping the drinks in this series to ingredients that aren’t too “out there” and I know this one fails that test a bit, but seriously … spring for a bottle of maraschino and a bottle of Fernet Branca. Neither is super pricey and they’ll last you forever because you rarely need more than half an ounce of them (even a quarter ounce of Fernet can take over a drink that doesn’t have this many strong flavors). Well worth the cash.
This article is a modified and enhanced version of a post that ran on my nightly cocktail blog, DrinkShouts.
The Le Mot D’or Cocktail Recipe
Equipment
- Bar spoon
- Cocktail Strainer
Ingredients
- 2 oz. Bourbon Basil Hayden’s
- .75 oz. Sweet vermouth Noilly Prat or Dolin
- .5 oz. Maraschino Luxardo
- .25 oz Fernet Branca
- Dash aromatic bitters
- Orange twist Garnish
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients over ice in a pint glass and stir thoroughly. Strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Garnish with an orange twist.
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