Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: Algonquin

Hello and happy summer Friday everyone. For this week, I wanted to make something a tad bit simpler than the last two weeks, which featured dark rum based tropical drinks. Not to mention the supply of Goslings is running precariously low. So I went to work doing some “research” in the handful of cocktail books I brought down to the cape with me, and I came across one I have bookmarked for a little while: The Algonquin. This classic drink comes from the Please Don’t Tell cocktail book.

Algonquin

2 oz. Rittenhouse Bonded rye whiskey

.75 Dolin dry vermouth

.75 oz. Pineapple juice

Stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish

It can’t get much easier than that right? As to the drink itself, right off the bat, I get a very rye forward nose. Though it isn’t knock your socks off strong, it’s there alright. I also get a little bit of citrus from the pineapple juice as well. The vermouth smell is nonexistent.

The initial flavor of the sip is dry, with a touch of sour. The spicy rye flavor really comes in towards the middle of the sip, and the pineapple shows up at the end. After finishing the sip, there is a little bit of a whiskey burn leftover that seems to coat the mouth and lingers for a minute or two. I don’t get a whole lot of the vermouth flavor in there at all. I suspect its main purpose is to add the dry notes to the overall flavor palate, but not to bring any flavor. The pineapple juice helps take the edge off from the strong base flavors of the rye and vermouth. It does an admirable job in its role of keeping the dryness to a pleasant level without going too far and overpowering. If you’re not a big fan of really dry drinks, you could add a splash or two of simple syrup to the mix  to sweeten it up a little bit. Personally, I think it’s fine just the way it is and wouldn’t change anything.

This is surprisingly refreshing for a dry drink, with strong base flavors. Since it’s a dry & whiskey forward drink, it’s a winner in my book. The dryness from the vermouth is not something I would expect to find in a whiskey based drink, but I’m happy to have tried it and will be on the lookout for more iterations of this 1-2 combination. I would suggest having an Algonquin during any kind of cocktail hour, or an after dinner drink.

(Banner image found here)