Creole Cocktail

1 1⁄2 oz Whiskey
1 1⁄2 oz Sweet vermouth
2 ds Amer Picon (or Bigallet China-China)
2 ds Bénédictine
Instructions

Stir with ice, then serve up in a coupe. Garnish with an expressed lemon peel and discard.

Notes

Since Amer Picon is not available in the US, I substituted Bigallet China-China Amer - as close as I can get.

Cocktail summary
Posted by Ke_LAN on
Created by
Hugo Ensslin
Year
1916
Is an
authentic recipe
Reference

https://euvs-vintage-cocktail-books.cld.bz/1917-Recipes-for-Mixed-Drink…

Curator
Not yet rated
Average
4.5 stars
(23 ratings)
YieldsDrink
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From other users
  • Saveur and Imbibe suggest rye. Here's the Saveur version (Imbibe calls for Amer Picon): 1&1/2 rye 1&1/2 sweet vermouth, Punt e mes preferred 1/2 benedictine 1 dash ango lemon peel — ★★★★
  • Yet to try
  • Regraded as 4 stars based on 1.5 Ritt, 1 PeM, .5 Amer Boudreau, .25 Benedictine. Rich sip and enjoyable metallic cherry finish (the Estopinal ratios from Imbibe, without the chilled-but-no-ice performativity).
  • Made with Buffalo Trace and AP. Sweet, but balanced. 1 dash Bittermens Xocolatl improves.
  • Tried with rye and 3 dashes Angostura bitters.
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Comments
Ajvan commented on 11/30/2019:

Saveur and Imbibe both suggest rye, and I'd agree, to dry things out a little. Using Punt e mes as the vermouth also helps.

Curated this - as posted it was 2 Bourbon, 3/4 sweet vermouth, 1/4 each Amer Picon and Benedictine. Ensslin has it as an equal parts drink with 2 dashes each Amer Picon and Benedictine. I'd call 4 dashes about a barspoon. While Rye is probably the way to go here, I think the Benedictine probably has enough herbal accord to mimic rye if you want to use Bourbon. Thanks,  Zachary

So after curating this last night, I made one with Knob Creek Rye and CAF and homemade Amer Boudreau (which is rather strong). The measurements in that Ensslin book are all messed up. He sets a pony equal to a jigger where normally there's a half ounce difference between the two. Then, a jigger is 1/4 of a whiskey glass and a drink is 1/2 of a whiskey glass. I mean, come on man. So a drink is either 2 or 3 ounces depending on which way you interpret things. My read on the drink is that it's meant to be a "fancy" Manhattan, modified by the Amer Picon and Benedictine. But at a 3 ounce drink, the modifiers are hard to distinguish. My feeling is that either this really should be a 2 ounce drink rather than a 3 ounce one. And there should be barely enough modifier to tell they're there. My guess is 1 ounce of each and 1/8 oz (eyeballed into a 1/4 oz measure) of each modifier. Thanks (sorry for the long note),  Zachary