Made with Drumshanbo Gunpowder gin, Brooklyn Kura Blue Door Junmai sake, and Luxardo Maraschino (and a dash of Regan's orange bitters to make up for the lack of the cherry blossom). The green tea notes of the gin works very, very well - I would recommend using Roku or any other Japanese gin here as well. The drink is well-balanced when using these ingredients; the sake does not overpower the gin's botanicals.

If you can find sake bermutto (vermouth made from sake), consider using it here and increasing the proportion of gin.

Truly fantastic with the Roku Sakura Bloom Edition (#6). What a great drink. It's very sake forward so make sure to use a good sake!

Worth saying that the original Sakura Martini specifies a Nama-style sake, for the added brightness. It also seems that in subsequent interviews Goto-san has fine-tuned the recipe, preferring to use 1/8 teaspoon of Maraschino in most iterations I've seen. At Bar Goto Niban, he always pulls out an adjustible teaspoon for this drink as well.

Nice alternative to a whiskey and soda for those of us who can't drink whiskey (for a variety of reasons). The hints of tiki are a really nice bonus.

On second try, I'd say it's not my cuppa.

Absolutely delicious with Appleton 12 and home-made falernum.

<br />Two Things:
First, the drink. Ahhhhhh! The drink! Es muy bien! Mine, I suspect, was a little smoother and richer than it would have been had I used the ingredients as specified. Unfortunately (perhaps), I didn't have El Dorado 12 rum. The only El Dorado rum I had was El Dorado 15, which is a special reserve aged for 15 years. I could have used another rum, but El Dorado is a demera rum, quite different from non-demera rums. But that's another story. Also, the El Dorado 15 rum probably gave me a richer, sweeter, and smoother tasting drink than if I used the El Dorado 12 rum. Regardless, "The Italian Conquistador" is one of those truly unforgettable cocktails, especially after a great dinner.

Second, the name: I think it should be "The Conquistador," not "The Italian Conquistador." Why? Well, of all of its ingredients, only the Cynar comes from Italy. Gran Classico is from Switzerland, the Falernum is from Barbados, the El Dorado is from Guyana, and even my orange is a product of Mexico. That's why I suggest naming it simply "The Conquistador." Now, if the name is not changed, will the sky fall down, will the Earth stop spinning, will life as we know it come to an end? No. I'm simply expressing an opinion, which I know will not change things. And that is just fine with me because "The Italian Conquistador" is one helluva fine drink, which I rated at 4.5.