This recipe seems under-rated. I wonder if it is the ratio or if people are using cheap/terrible sloe gin?

There are, at least, three types of cocktails that vye for the "Blackthorn" name. Sloe berries are the fruit of the Blackthorn tree & this concoction is probably the one that should have the title [though other have (humorously) proposed Irish whiskey-based concoction being credible due to where Blackthorn trees are grown].

This recipe dates to pre-1926 [when it appeared in Bolton's Sideboard]. Dave Arnold's recipe [1.5 oz Plymouth/0.75 sweet vermouth/0.75 sloe gin/2 dashes bitters] is better-balanced than this version.

<br />I tried the revised "Blackthorn English" recipe submited by commentor noksagt. I used Plymouth Gin, Hayman's Sloe Gin, Dolin sweet vermouth, and Bitter Truth's aromatic bitters. Personally, I did not find this particular cocktail to be well balanced. I don't know whether Hayman's sloe gin is considered a better brand, but I thought it overwhelmed the rest of the ingredients. If I were to make this libation again, I would probably turn to Cinzano's sweet vermouth, which has pronounced fruity overtones thatmay soften the sloe gin. Also, noksagt did not specify the type of bitters to us; in the future I will probably fall back on orange bitters. Regardless, I rated noksagt's suggested version of "Blackthorn English" at 3.0.

So this was one of those original drinks on KC that I  ran across and saw it was in need of fixing. The earliest I can trace this back is to a 1901 private "Sideboard for Gentlemen" published for the St. Boltoph's Club in Boston, MA. It's been around since 1880 and had members including Henry Cabot Lodge, Francis Parkman and Phillips Brooks (who wrote the lyrics to O Little Town of Bethlehem). Thanks,  Zachary

Curated to correct recipe and attribution as per http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2006/08/01/test-pilot/

YUM!! This is such a great drink, the absinthe is rendered unrecognisable but brings out the cinnamon flavour of the falernum, how is that possible? I don't know but it sure is tasty! Also don't go flying any planes after one of these, this sucker's strong!

I always call this the Alto Cucina by Stephen Shellenberger that was published in the May/June issue of Imbibe Magazine. Orange twist though.
https://kindredcocktails.com/cocktail/alto-cucina

Recipes specifically calling for Old Monk are so few and far between, I had to give this one a spin. The full ounce of Punt e Mes beats back most of the rye nuances and even most of the endearing harshness of the Old Monk. Certainly the Bénédictine comes through loud and clear. Successive sips do reveal more of the base spirits' character, but they definitely play a backseat to the Punt e Mes and Bénédictine.

I might need to revisit this one with good old Noily Prat to try to strike a rum/rye/vermouth balance that is more to my liking, but this is one that is worth further reflection and experimentation.

When we had it at Drink in 2008, it was 1 dash Mole Bitters. The cinnamon note of the Fee's would be delightful, but it was not the house recipe (the version of the Drink recipe book I have lists it as 2 dashes Mole Bitters and served in a rocks glass without ice).

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2008/11/1919-cocktail.html

I now work at Drink, and it is made with 1 dash mole bitters and no garnish now as it was back in 2008. As per my blog and per the Drink bar bible. Everything else is a variation.

Got it, thanks Fred. Zachary

Surprised that it doesn't have a cherry garnish. A bit too close to a Manhattan - will try increasing the rum/rye balance.

When I was working at Drink, it was discussed how if there were to be a garnish, nutmeg would be the one. It has enough body that a sweet cherry would be superfluous. In my mind the 1919 is an expansion of the Fort Point Cocktails at that bar (double the Punt e Mes and Benedictine amounts and split the rye with Old Monk Rum) and starker form gets a cherry garnish.
https://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/2008/10/fort-point-cocktail.html

I feel like I had this at No 9 Park and it pre-dated the Fort Point, but maybe I am misremembering... it was part of the Old Monk craze of that era.

It was not on the menu at No. 9 Park right before or after Drink opened in October 2008. There's a chance that Ben Sandrof had been tinkering with it before Drink finally opened, but I have never seen a reference to that possibility (including my own time spent in that establishment), and it has always been spoken of as a Drink house original. Then again, this is history told in bars by folks that drink.

yeah, didn't mean to imply it was on the menu, just that I had it there

Reduce Punt e Mes to 0.75 oz, bump up rum to compensate. Worth trying over a large sphere.

Your post on ChowHound inspired my last night to try 1 oz Gin, 1 oz Carpano Antica, 1/2 oz Sloe Gin, 1/2 oz Campari. I thought it was good, but theCarpano Antica, dominated. Next I'm going to 1 oz Gin and 2/3 oz each of the other 3. Thanks for the great idea!

The blogger at cocktailchronicles.com has passed along the idea of making a Negroni Swizzle by adding a pinch of salt and an ounce of club soda. (Original credit goes to Giuseppe Gonzalez at Painkiller in NY.) Can't wait to try it.

Glad to hear it! I've been trying to track down Carpano Antica in Wisconsin. Might try a Lillet version in the meantime.

If you would say you normally don't like campari and/or sweet vermouth (like me) then double the gin quantity. Makes it stronger too! Just don't change the proportion of vermouth to campari.

I would say it's an impressive achievement to like a Negroni in any form if you don't like Campari and Sweet Vermouth! If it's the sweetness that you don't like, you can try a Perfect Negroni, splitting the vermouth 50:50 between sweet and dry.

If you can find Punt e Mes, the same people will have Carpano Antica, but a lot of the times, distributors just don't know they have it.

If I was on a deserted island with one drink available, this would be it. I also love a number of variations of this drink, but the original, with the classic 1:1:1 proportions, is my favorite (thought I like it best over crushed ice with a lime wedge)

Kindred Cocktails has accumulated a huge number of nearly-identical Negroni variations. We plan to consolidate these, adding comments for various variations.

I'd really like people's thoughts here - we have 14 things called a Negroni in the database, and fully half of them are calls for the gin and Sweet vermouth. Some are not Negronis at all (those that sub Sherry, sub Aperol for Campari, have Cynar or other things in them). Are there any variants people are particularly attached to that should not be collapsed?

Thanks,

Zachary

I think that is going to be a tough call- many of these variations/derivatives are delicious, but they are completely different drinks, despite their names. Even substitutions that seem more minor, such as Gran Classico for Campari, create entirely different drinks- and that is even more true for the Cynar/Sherry/Rum etc. substitutions. I'm not a fan of clutter, but I think it makes the most sense to only collapse the more minor tweaks, such as the Perfect Negroni.

Must use Cocchi Americano, not Lillet Blanc.

It's good with Plymouth, even better with Bols Genever.

Kina L'avion D'or works as well instead of lillet blanc.

This is my in-laws' favorite cocktail. I made it for them once and they loved it so much that they bought all the ingredients and my father-in-law now has a card with the recipe printed on it so he can get it made at any bar they go to.

Lesson: make this for people who don't drink a lot of cocktails.

I enjoy this cocktail quite a bit. My version is an oz of each element and the dash. I will have to try it with the rinse. This is particularly great after a day working in the yard, because that is when this corpse needs reviving.

Old raj gin , Kina avion d'or, Pierre Ferrand Curaçao 

Reduce lemon juice to 2/3 or 1/2 oz

I have to say that this is a wonderful cocktail. It is plenty interesting, even for the jaded Fernet-chugging cocktail geek. Yet it's fairly accessible for those just getting starting to explore amaro-based cocktails. I bumped up the Cynar to 3/4oz and backed the simple down to 3/8oz, which was a nice balance for my taste. Where the bitter grapefruit flavor comes from, I do not know.

I used 3/4 oz cynar as that finished the bottle, and I was also generous with the mint. A little less simple and citrus next time, and I'll keep the extra cynar. I'm revisiting recipes I saved years ago and deleting anything I don't love from my cocktail library; this one stays.