Last week, Hunt mentioned that he had tried a Negroni with a Old Tom gin instead of a regular gin and that he rather liked it. Old Tom gin is a precursor to today’s gin (often called London Dry) and is usually aged in barrels unlike gin.

To go back a little more in time, I tried mine today with Genever. Which is the original source of today’s gin. In fact Old Tom gin is considered the bridge between Genever and modern day gin.

The effect was indeed remarkable. I think it was the ageing (the wood aroma) that you could feel on the nose that made the difference.

Normally, a fall evening should start with an Old Fashioned for me. But I remembered a discussion I had earlier this week with my friend and an absolute aficionado of classical brown alcohol drinks – Hunt – and decided to go with a Manhattan. Unlike him though, I refuse to have my Manhattans with any other kind of whiskeys than the ryes!!

I thought of throwing in a Luxardo brandied cherry for the garnish, but the concept of anything sweet did not sit well with me after the cold motorbike ride and the cold boat ride.

Okay, this turned out even better but I am still not there. Made all the changes I said I will do in the previous post. Additionally, instead of Sambuca or Absinthe, I used Licor Beirao form Portugal.

There is a bit of a bitter tinge in the end of the palate that I do not care about. So, the next take will be to do everything the same but not use tonic water at all. I suspect the quinine in the tonic water is leaving the bitter taste.

Will report back.