I'm still somewhat surprised at how much I like this drink, which started out completely as a joke. I feel like the sharp apple notes of the Laird's bonded combined with the soft botanical gin forms a really nice base, which I would not have thought before I made this up. I've enjoyed these multiple times since and I find that a less dry (though not strictly dry) gin such as Malacca works better than the Old Tom because it dials back the sweetness just a bit. Also lime juice works just as well as the lemon. It's a fairly sweet drink, like the actual Sex On The Beach, but more complex and therefore more delicious.

I've always thought of Laird's Bonded as being the more whisky side of apple brandy, where Germain Robin is more of the fruit and sweetness and Calvados more of the theoretical ideal of an apple. You comment makes me want to try this, but I'd need the peach Brizard...

Thanks,

Zachary

Yum. Made this this evening with Malacca, Dolin, Mathilde peach, and lime. Very refreshing. I found it less sweet than Eric did, possibly because Mathilde isn't as sweet as Brizard (though I doubt it), and possibly because my limes today are a bit sharp and overly assertive. The Laird's was surprisingly subdued and the Malacca and grenadine came to dominate as the drink warmed.

I’m new to the home bartending scene, but this one is easily a 5+

Too sweet, would cut the orgeat by 1/4. ☆☆

Pretty good - used unaged spirits and split the tequila with mezcal for some smoke. I would reduce the orgeat some and/or up the citrus. Kept the egg white from the Conquistador that this riffs off of.

<p>
I was caught by one user's comment that the Reverse Vesper is... "Tastier than the original though maybe too sweet. Worth trying with the gin and vodka proportions switched." I thought there must be a better, perhaps simpler way to make this drink less sweet, so here's what I did and the results.</p>
<p>
First, I made the drink using Citadelle Gin, but otherwise did not change the recipe, and found it somewhat sweet, but not overly so. Nevertheless, I used a grapefruit twist, making sure to express a fair amount of oil, and dropped in the twist. Definitely less sweet. Then I added dash of Fee Bros West Indies Orange Bitters. Even better, and I don't think anyone would complain about sweetness now. Nevertheless, I made another drink the same way, except I used one dash of Blood Orange bitters instead of West Indies bitters. I liked this even more. The changes to date: I used Citadelle Gin, a grapefruit twist, and 1-2 dashes of Blood Orange bitters. The result: a complex but smooth cocktail, that was not as sweet as before, with the amounts of vodka and gin unchanged.</p>
<p>
Now I decided to change the gin brand but continue to use the grapefruit twist and the Blood Orange bitters, To date, I've been using Valentine Vodka (a topshelf, very smooth vodka). In place of the Citidelle gin, I tried both St. George Terroir Gin and The Botanist Gin (both are botanical gins). Using either gin, along with Valentine Vodka, Blood Orange bitters, and a grapefruit twist made for a very tasty drink, which did not have a "sweetness" to it. In short, if you find the above recipe too sweet, use a grapefruit twist in place of the orange peel. A lemon twist also works well. If available, use Blood Orange bitters (1-2 dashes), and use a botanical gin if you have one--or Tanqueray Ten or Tanqueray Bloomsbury gin.

A long discussion, but I hope some of the suggested changes to create a less sweet cocktail were helpful. Cheers.</p>

I dialed back the chartreuse to 1/2 ounce and expressed the orange peel over the drink. Sweet but not cloying; fresh pleasant taste. If you like a drier cocktail, do follow others’ advice for a little more gin and/or gentian liqueur.

The drink was created in 2008 not 2009, for the bartender exchange between Eastern Standard and PDT occurred in September 2008. Kevin served this at PDT (whatever else was on his menu didn't seem to get recorded in the PDT Cocktail Book nor did he share it back in Boston), and we got Daniel Eun at Eastern Standard. Daniel's menu included the Dewey D, a variation on the Number 8, and the Mariner for his 3 night stint in Boston (there was more but we didn't record what we didn't sample as we were caught up in the moment).

https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2008/09/dewey-d.html
https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2012/01/albert-mathieu.html

According to the DrinkBoston blog, it was organized by Phil Ward of Death & Co. in conjunction with Rob Cooper of St. Germain who funded the travel and lodging expense:

https://drinkboston.com/2008/09/12/please-dont-tell/

Changed the date per @yarm's history.