Remember remember the checks calendar the 12th of July? Well I’m remembering the time I made the Remember the Maine. All the way back in the second post of this series back in 2019. Oh, the simpler times…

Anyway, looking back on that post, I realized a couple things: 1) while I got the recipe from the PDT book, they got it from a book I already owned: The Gentleman’s Companion. 2) I didn’t quite make it properly as  I had no cherry Heering on hand, and didn’t at all until very recently thanks to BFC, who was gracious enough to send me some. Armed with the original recipe and a key ingredient, it’s only fitting that I re-make (re-mix?) this classic and I’m guessing one of his favorites.

Remember The Maine

Treat this one with the respect it deserves, gentlemen. Take a tall bar glass and toss in 3 lumps of ice. Onto this foundation donate the following in order given: 1 jigger of good rye whisky, 1/2 jigger Italian vermouth, 1 to 2 tsp of cherry brandy, 1/2 tsp absinthe or Pernod Veritas. Stir briskly in clock-wise fashion—this makes it sea-going, presumably!—turn into a big chilled saucer champagne glass, twisting a curl of green lime or lemon peel over the top.

Definitely fruitier on the nose than I expected. The brandy and the vermouth see to that I suspect. Going back in, I can detect the presence of the absinthe in here. It has such a distinct aroma that it’s hard to mask or cover up completely. Once you pick it up, it’s hard to look past it as well, as that’s all I seem to be picking up going back in to see what else I can get.

Oh this is good. It’s strong and slightly bitter right off the bat. I get the rye flavor up front before it fades to the back ever so slightly to allow for deeper flavors to come out. For as bitter as this is, I do get some slightly sweeter tastes that eventually emerge. The cherry brandy and the vermouth’s deeper flavors are able to emerge and add their mark on the drink before their minute sweetness fades and gives way to the more dominant absinthe bitterness. It finishes with a combination of the absinthe bitter, and rye whiskey spiciness.

I have no idea why I didn’t actually write about the drink when I first made it. I guess I wanted to provide more background on the drink itself vs what it tasted like? Either way, I like how this post has evolved, and I especially like how this turned out. It checks all the boxes I like for drinks. But, I do think this is a one and done for me. As much as I like it, I think another one(ish) of these and I would start getting more and more of the absinthe and I don’t think I want that kind of domination on my palate at the moment.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)