Nice. Not spectacular. This would be a good drink to introduce an assertive Old Tom (Ransoms, f'rinstance) to someone who "doesn't like gin". For me, who emphatically does like gin, it seems to play against the strengths of the spirit.

I agree that the gin is lost in this recipe. I bumped up the gin to 1.75 oz and it was much better. 

Whitechapel's take on this is 1 1/2 ounces Old Tom gin, preferably Jensen,1 ounce blanc vermouth, preferably Dolin, and 1/4 ounce Bénédictine: http://punchdrink.com/recipes/whitechapels-ford-cocktail/

This is one of my favorite drinks out of Ted Haigh's Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. The Haigh recipe calls for an extra quarter ounce of lime juice and 1/2 ounce of curacao. I didn't have that good of a curacao on hand when I made it, but it still came out decent. Floating a mint leaf on top was key.

There are several versions of this cocktail. I have updated it to reflect the preference of Ted Haigh, and added a source reference to his excellent book.

Just made this with Carpano Antica. Excellent.

I think this one comes out pretty good, but I would cut back a little on the lime juice, or add a dash or two of simple syrup.

Made this tonight, with Rothman & Winter apricot liqueur, 1/2 oz of lime juice and a double dose of cranberry bitters (because I'm out of Peychaud right now). Tasted balanced to me, not too sweet at all, and I think using the R&W and upping the lime juice helped. As the French say, Chacun à son gout (Each to his own gout, heh). Girlie drink? Nah!

Rob, I fear that the recipe when you made this was tinkered by me. The original from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails is 2 gin, 1 apricot or peach brandy, 2-3 dashes Peychaud's, and 3/4oz lime juice. The Campari addition was mine and I have no idea why the lime was halved.

Dan, frankly I'm glad you incorporated the Campari - as you know I have a bitter bell that loves to be rung, even better when it's bitter with fruits. It's a good thing that this is a gin cocktail, the botanicals with lime keep the drink in these specs from being cloying in any way. Next time I might add a touch more R&W!

Has there been a change? I'm not seeing the campari.

Since this originated in 1881 in the US, I'd be willing to bet that the gin called for would be Old Tom, which has some sweetness to it. I'd also bet that the "apricot brandy" is meant to be brandy rested on apricot (or peach) pits. Maybe equal parts fairly old Cognac and apricot eau de vie (Blume Marillen) would be an appropriate substitution.

I had tweaked this cocktail with Campari, which I subsequently deleted since it isn't authentic. My tweak was to use Campari for half the fruit liqueur. Also see Zachary's note for what was probably originally intended.

This is my first time using apricot liqueur (I have the Rothman and Winter). This is a little reminiscent of jolly rancher for me; I hope I can find a more subtle application for this ingredient.

You can try my ploy of sub'ing half Campari for the fruit liqueur, or you could try Zach's historic interpretation, although it might require some more purchases. ;)

I will try that and post back. I do like my Campari, but in small doses, so this may work nicely.

I've made this with a few different gins and a few different dry vermouths. I've also made it with Cocchi Americano, Lilet, and for tonight, Cap Corse Mattei Blanc Quinquina. It's always good. Most of these have had PF Dry Curacao and Grand Classico

This appears to be missing half an ounce of curaçao.

Corey,

I flagged this for moderation with Dan - he'll clean it up. Can you post a link to the proper recipe? Thanks.

I got this recipe from Ted Haigh's book. I'm guessing the curacao got lot when I imported it from one database to the other because of the c-cedilla.

Curated, in a big way. Turned the drink from a single serving into a punch. It now follows the recipe in "How to Mix Drinks". I had to guess on the volume of the soda water, but it makes sense. It does make you wonder, though, as Champagne back in the day was typically much sweeter than we prefer it today, and it already has 32 ounces of orgeat, sugar, and Maraschino (!).

Hmmm. Much less useful for everyday use when written as a 50 serving recipe. I've made this as an individual cocktail. The ratios are such that it doesn't scale back to a single cocktail. Now sure what's best here.

To anyone wanting to make a single server, just change the yield to 1 drink, and click Change. The recipe will be scaled down to a single serving.