Martica (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This is one of those no garnish needed, all-booze drinks that Death & Co. does to show off their most intensely flavored liquors. This one takes the richness of Jamaican rum and the dry but deep taste of cognac and balances them with sharp maraschino and exotic bitters. 

These kinds of cocktails were part of the revival movement in the early 2000. Once upon a time, we were just discovering how to actually use bitters to tie flavors together, and we learned that Luxardo maraschino is indespensable. It's the duct tape of cocktails. This drink is so straight forward--and good, definitely good--that it doesn't need water or juice and can still be satisfyingly complex.

• 1 oz. cognac (Martell single distillery used)
• 1 oz. Appleton V/X rum (George Bowman used)
• 3/4 bitter Italian sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 1/4 oz. Luxardo maraschino liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled coupe glass.