Remember the Maine

Remember the Maine

Described first by spirits writer Charles H. Baker in his 1939 classic, the Gentleman’s Companion, or Around the World with Jigger, Beaker and Flask, this rye-based drink has an ingredient list that’s part Sazerac, part Manhattan and has a grandiose backstory to boot. The Maine, a U.S. naval ship, was sitting off the coast of Havana in 1898 in a bout of saber-rattling with Spain, which controlled Cuba at the time. When it mysteriously exploded and sank (some blame a coal fire), warmongering journalists used the phrase “Remember the Maine, to Hell with Spain” as a rallying cry that would jumpstart the Spanish-American war, leading to Cuban independence. Baker, however, wrote about the drink in context of the 1933 Cuban Revolution, which overthrew the dictator Machado. He happened to be in Havana during “the unpleasantness…when each swallow was punctuated with bombs going off on the Prado or the sound of…shells being fired at the Hotel Nacional.”

Ingredients

2 OZ. RYE WHISKEY

¾ OZ. SWEET VERMOUTH

2 TSP. CHERRY HEERING

½ TSP. ABSINTHE, OR ABSINTHE SUBSTITUTE

TOOLS: MIXING GLASS, BARSPOON, STRAINER

GLASS: COCKTAIL

GARNISH: CHERRY (as many as you want )

Preparation

Combine ingredients in a mixing glass, fill with ice and stir for 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish.

(Shout out to Adam Jarus for introducing me to this delicious cocktail)