(Made with pomegranate molasses for grenadine)

hm. I liked what is going on here - I'll probably do some fussing with the proportions.

on second thought: I like it just the way it is. I'll make this again.

Very lovely, floral drink with Plymouth Gin.  Going to try the next one with Beefeater 24...

Delicious, even when made with a rather strange looking lemon that I filched from my neighbor's tree.

The drink is not necessarily chilled.
Many variations are appropriate too.
The one as described in the recipe.
Another, the same without ice. And another version more like a caipirinha, with more lime and with or without ice.

Some recipes allow nearly only peel, not flesh. Small piece, no ice, little syrup. Lot of rhum.

This is really intriguing. I've never seen the Maurin Quina before and will definitely look for it. I'm wondering what would happen if Cherry Heering or Combier Rouge were substituted for the cassis here.

I tend to think about cocktail development in terms of flavor or aroma accords. In this cocktail, I was thinking about the bitters first - they're fruity, with a chile spicyness and typical bitter notes. That led me to Cassis, which is fruity + a woody bitterness, which led me to Rye, which has a green, woody bitterness as well. Maurin Quina is cherry + almond + some interesting bitter notes, and the rinse of Creme de Cacao is meant to mimic the 20th Century cocktail, as well as to tie in and harmonize the other flavors, all of which go well with chocolate. This is still in the theoretical phase, as Maurin Quina is a special order only thing where I live ;) 

But to answer your question... I think that other cherry liqueurs might be a good substitition, as long as they have a bitterness to them. You might also want more lemon juice in the cocktail to make up for the loss of acidity in the cherry liqueurs.

So I'm busy today. My likker store actually sourced a bottle of Maurin Quina for me, and I made the drink as written (the bitters are dropper instead of dash). I like this, if I do say so myself. It tastes like a good left bank Bordeaux in a weird way, with woody notes forward, cassis and red fruit in the midpalate, then the bitterness of the Maurin Quina mixed with the chile-accented bitters on the finish. I think a bit of extra shaking is a good thing as it brings out the brambly Cassis more.

Quite tasty, but I'd cut the bitters to one dash, otherwise it overwhelms the other ingredients.

I have sought confirmation for Elixir about the name, ingredients, history, and attribution for this cocktail. This is obviously not a relative of a true Martini and perhaps has a better name.

Sounds similar to the Dreamy Dorini Smoking Martini created by Audrey Saunders that I saw mentioned on eGullet:
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?/topic/82754-simple-vodka-cocktail-…

H. Joseph Ehrmann kindly wrote back with the original recipe, notes, and an aritcle from November 30, 2008 in the New York Times where it was featured. I have updated the recipe's name, history, date, and reference to reflect these source references.

Thanks, Dan, for doing that, and thanks to H. Joseph Ehrmann.