Raiders of the Lost Cocktail #2- Dolly O'Dare

I know, I know, I already have an entry into this month's Raiders of the Lost Cocktail, but when I mentioned Raiders to my friend and fellow Oregon Bartenders Guild member Daniel Shoemaker of the TearDrop Lounge last weekend, he turned around grabbed a bottle of apricot brandy, whipped up a Dolly O' Dare Cocktail from the Savoy Cocktail book and placed it in front of me. Delicious.

Dolly O'Dare Cocktail (From the Savoy Cocktail Book)

6 dashes apricot brandy
1/2 French Vermouth
1/2 Gin

Shake well and strain into cocktail glass. Squeeze orange peel on top.

On another note, I've just tasted the best whiskey I've ever had. Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey arrived today and after dinner I poured myself a little bit and plopped an ice cube into my glass. Wow. I'll write a full review soon, but I have to say that not only have they created a unique style of whiskey with Stranahan's, but its incredibly well made and tasty. I was excited about Stranahan's before as I've read good things, but tasting is really believing. They've created a unique new style of American whiskey, and I for one take my hat off to them. This bottle may not make it to the OBG tasting... Good thing its available in Oregon already.

Raiders of the Lost Cocktail- The Apricot Cocktail

Already this month I participated in my first Mixology Monday, which quickly became one of my favorite experiences on this blog, and I've been looking for similar experiences. I came across Paul Clarke's blog, the Cocktail Chronicles. Paul is one of my favorite spirits writers, and I've been honored to share the pages of the Jan/Feb issue of Imbibe with him. Paul is the third host of "Raiders of the Lost Cocktail", an exercise in revisiting some of the more obscure ingredients and their role in classic cocktails. This month, the theme is Apricot Brandy.I was intrigued, and to be honest, I needed a break tonight so that I can finish off my eggnog. So I picked up my 1948 copy of Patrick Gavin Duffy's "The Standard Bartenders Guide". The obviously named Apricot Cocktail struck my fancy as its easy to reproduce and yet might be an interesting cocktail. I did however, lack any apricot brandy in the house, and with Oregon being a control state, I was rather worried that I wouldn't be able to get a quality product. My suspicions came true after a visit to one of our Soviet era liquor stores, where my choices were Mr. Boston or DeKuyper. While I hate DeKuyper (I think its Dutch for "crap"), personal pride wouldn't let me buy Mr. Boston, so $8.45 later, I was the proud owner of a fifth of DeKuyper's finest Apricot Brandy. Surprisingly, the DeKuyper worked well in the cocktail, so now I can't wait to get my hands on some decent apricot brandy. It made for a tasty cocktail and one I think that deserves some consideration for resurrection for the graveyard of forgotten cocktails. Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Apricot Cocktail
1/4 Lemon Juice
1/4 Orange Juice
1/2 Apricot Brandy
Dash dry gin (I used House Spirit's Aviation Gin and it worked very well)


Shake well and strain into a glass