I read this to my wife, who likes van Aviation, and her reaction was, "that's disgusting!". Not that it wouldn't taste good. But what's the concept here?

Any idea of the background or history?

I updated the missing attribution and clarified the amount of Meyer lemon juice.

We made an almost identical drink at the restaurant and subbed cucumber syrup instead and called it a Snap Dragon.....but the proportions on this drink make for one heck of a large cocktail! Obviously aimed at the Cosmo crowd.

Cut all volumes in half, used unflavored vodka and added 1/4 oz ginger liqueur for 3 oz pre-shake volume. 

Original is from Harry Johnson 1882 before Jack's Manual.

Nice with a lemon twist, oils expressed over the top of the drink, instead of a cherry

I don't think the Bijou is in the 1882 or 1888 versions of Harry Johnson--I couldn't locate it in either. However it is in the 1900 version. I don't know why Ezra Star has been listed as creator. I have removed that for now, and changed the year to 1900. I also replaced the defunct link with an Internet archive link to it. Expressed lemon twist was in the 1900 recipe, so I have included it in ingredients and instructions. Interestingly, an olive is also a garnish option in place of the cherry--I might add that as a note later.

I think the Ezra attribution was due to an apprentice bartender at Drink in Boston screwing around with Wikipedia. The ones that truly gained traction were John D. Gertsen (founder of Drink) being linked to the Sazerac to the point that folks dressed up like him in recreations, and Sam "Suck It" Treadway as the creator of the Sidecar that made it into a few articles. Some of the misinformation even made it as far as the Tales of the Cocktail site.

While you're at it, you can fix the misattribution on the Bijou (Dry) entry.

Ok, updated the "dry" version to remove the various vandalized Wikipedia referenced bits. Also removed the Wiki suggestion here that the original was floated rather than stirred--missed that on the first pass. (IIRC some have suggested that was an alternate way some made it, but it is not in the original published recipe.)

Substitute St. Germain for the Luxardo and you have 'La Lumiere'

I enjoy this drink quite a lot - I keep finding myself gravitating back to it when I have strayed for a while.

substitute lime for lemon and you have "Final Word"

Tried crème de cassis and Yellow Chartreuse instead of maraschino and green...

Equal parts, but added 1/3 more gin from old raj 110 abv + 1 dash boker's. Nice, a bit sweet, strong notes of cassis 

When it's all said and done, this is my number one.

Agree completely that the original has too much "bite". I recommend 1.5 parts gin with .5 parts of the other ingredients, then if you want more maraschino or chartreuse flavor add a little of those.

Difford proportions are 1 fl oz gin, 2/3 fl oz each Green Charteuse, Maraschino and lime juice, plus 1/3 fl oz cold water if not using wet ice. A tasty cocktail that ties together two potent ingredients.

I make it with Escubac (a juniper-free herbal spirit) instead of gin. We call it a Bac(k) Word in my house. 

Abigail Gullo makes a Last Laugh by straining this into a champagne flute and topping with cava, with a lime twist.

To mute the potent liqueurs and work more like a martini, I use 2 oz gin and a barspoon of each ingredient.

User kscheibner suggest Yellow Chartreuse and general "whiskey" as The Final Word. 

Bumped up the rye and backed off on the lemon juice: 1.0, 0.5, 0.75, 0.75.

This is good, with maraschino coming through strong

We substituted Aviation Gin for the rum at our restaurant for a Flying Hemingway variation and also changed the ratios to 1 1/2 oz gin, 1/2 oz simple, 3/4 oz grapefruit juice, 1/4 oz lime juice and 1/2 oz Marachino.

I thought it was interesting that when researching this drink, The PDT Cocktail book states that this was originally made without the simple syrup due to Hemmingway being a diabetic...hmm...rum is usually derived from some sort of sugar base so I thought that was an interesting comment.

Thanks for pointing this out. I've updated the recipe to the authentic version referenced in PDT.

Really great with a white agricole. You'd think that it would be too tart by looking at the recipe, but it isn't. It's just perfectly tart.

No grapefruit on hand, so I:

1 1/2 oz Wray & Nephew Overproof rum
1/2 oz Maraschino
1/4 oz Campari
1/4 oz Aperol
1 oz lime juice

Fantastic.

Made this with a 2:1 mix of Wray & Nephew and Barbancourt 5 Star. Perfection.

1.5 oz rum
1 oz grapefruit
.5 oz lime
.5 oz Luxardo Maraschino

Holy f**k Dan. You need to give this drink a name. I haven't made the original Hemingway yet, but it's going to be hard to convince me it's better than your version here. It's worth anyone buying W&N just to make this.

Just tried this last night and really loved it. The light spices of the dry vermouth play off the other ingredients in wonderful ways. I made it with Rittenhouse 100 which seemed to have the perfect heft to set off the other ingredients but also made the drink pretty kick-ass strong. I think this will be in my regular rotation for a while.

A wonderful, overlooked drink. When made with an LDI rye (especially Dickel, but also Bulleit) it has unexpected savory dill flavors that complement the sweet and sour beautifully. We do

1 1/2 oz Dickel rye
1/2 oz Dolin dry
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz homemade grenadine
1 ds Regan's orange.

Wife has never ever liked or even tolerated whiskey over many various attempts.  She actually liked this! Used the DrunkLab recipe above. Thanks much!

Also really liked the version in Imbibe Magazine: http://imbibemagazine.com/the-scofflaw-cocktail-recipe/. 

That's the wrong Drink spec in the notes. Drink's recipe book has it as 1 1/4 rye, 3/4 dry v, 1/2 lemon, 1/2 gren, 1 dash orange bitters.

Tasty

Haters will be upset but it's just as good with lime.

User brxn has pointed out that the PDT Cocktail book calls for 1/2 simple, yet the linked 2007 LA Times recipes calls for only 1/4 oz. I have found 1/4 oz to be adequate, but I've written Jim Meehan for clarification. I'll post an update when he replies.

It makes more sense as 1/4 oz simple so that it's a 1:1 sour.

Thanks,

Zachary

I spoke with Jim Meehan, author of the PDT Cocktail Book. He makes the excellent point that recipes are not fixed in time, but rather evolve. The cocktail was created in 2007 (when the LA Times recipe was published) and the PDT Cocktail book was researched and published in 2009. It's 2012 as I write this.

Palates change. The acidity of the lemon juice varies. Some patrons prefer sour; others sweet. Sometimes even ingredients change (although not in this case). He said that he would remake the recipe and let me know his thoughts, but if asked right now to make one for a patron of unknown / unspecified desire for sweetness, he would use 1/4 oz of simple. PDT uses 1:1 syrup. Remember that the PDT Cocktail Book reflects how PDT prefers to make cocktails, which may differ slightly from how the creator made them. My thanks go out to Jim. He is clearly a man of passion and diligence.

Jim Meehan made both version and concluded 1/2 oz simple with an extra 2 seconds of shake time.

Some may say that the Vieux Mot is tart yet sweet; I think it's sweet but somewhat tart. Regardless, it's a drinkably drinkable cocktail for those who like a somewhat tart cocktail. Judging from the number of people who rated this cocktail at 4.0 or higher, it's a popular drink--I suspect during the summer especially. I, myself, rated this cocktail at 4.0 (and Spring has barely peeked its head). And you? How do you rate the Vieux Mot?

Made the very similar White Linen (https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/white-linen-52923711), which calls for 1/4 oz more lemon juice, and used Cotswolds Dry Gin. Delicious.