Sherry Cocktail

Sherry in cocktails seems to be all the craze these days.
I made this last night as a bit of a modification of Lindsay's Whimsy (Lindsay Baird of Comstock in SF) from Fred Yarm's Cocktail Virgin blog.
Turned out to be an extremely elegant and lovely drop.

1oz Sherry (I used Herederos de Argüeso Manzanilla San León Reserva de la Familia...original recipe calls for Oloroso)
1oz dry vermouth (Dolin)
1/2oz Benedictine
1/2oz Amaro (Meletti..OR calls for Montenegro)
2 dashes of Dale DeGroff's Pimento bitters (OR calls for Allspice Dram...like St. Elizabeth's)
1 dash Angostura bitters

ice, stir, strain into coupe, garnish with squeezed lemon peel

[David M. Bueker]

Bill!!!

David!! 8+)

Bill, yeah, sherry is popular in cocktails here too

Another one to try is the Lustau East India sherry in a cocktail. Really great. And tho I will be labeled as a little drummer boy, I hae to say that cognac and sherry do very well together. Recent cognac comp. I judged, two of the five compeititors used amontillado sherry in their concoctions.

I like fine Sherry so much on its own, I personally would never consider mixing it in a cocktail. I wouldn't put Laberdoilve in a cocktail for the same reason. There's nowhere to go but downhill in mixing it with something else.

-Paul W.

Hoke, definitely agree that cognac and sherry play well together. I bet that East India works really well that way. I really like finos and manzanillas with Dolin (dry or blanc). There is just so much subtlety that can happen.

Paul, to each his own. I also love sherry unadorned but I've come to appreciate how transformative the right combination can be. The sherry in my cocktail above was $6 for a half. Sure it's a fine drop but man, that cocktail is something memorable.

I've seen the Lustau East India called for in a number of drinks but haven't made any of them. Have never made a sherry-forward cocktail myself. Sounds like something that needs doing.

I like fine Sherry so much on its own, I personally would never consider mixing it in a cocktail. I wouldn't put Laberdoilve in a cocktail for the same reason. There's nowhere to go but downhill in mixing it with something else.

-Paul W.

As Bill said, to each his own. But also as Bill said, the harmonic synergy of a good sherry (of which there is a sufficient supply to both drink on its own and mixed with other things without exhausting the supply) is simply too good for me to ignore.

And hey, no one loves a really good Armagnac more than I (and Laberdolive is most certainly that); but it still makes a damn good additive to a cocktail.