Hello, good morning, and welcome to the weekend, and what a week it has been. I don’t know why but this week was a killer and crazy busy for me. What this means is I’ve been looking to keep things simple this week. So while a drink is MUCH needed, complexity isn’t exactly a friend right now. With that, I went back to the Savoy book, since those tend to be easy and delicious. I’ve had the Royal Cocktail #2 bookmarked for a while now, and decided this week was the time to pick it up. Plus, it’s an excuse to use the Cherry Heering I have in my bar compliments of BFC. As to the name? I have no idea where it got it from, or why it’s the second iteration of a Royal cocktail. The color maybe? The Heering will give it a deep red color so maybe that’s why? I could google it I suppose, but I don’t have the energy for a deep dive. Let’s just mix it up shall we?

Royal Cocktail (No. 2)

1/3 French (dry) Vermouth

1/3 Dry Gin

1/3 Cherry Brandy

Stir well and strain into a cocktail glass

Quick note here. The proportions are all equal, I chose to use an ounce and a half of each.

There is an overwhelmingly cherry brandy aroma I get immediately when I pick this drink up. Not gonna lie, I’m a little apprehensive with this one. I may have made a mistake with the Heering….

So, I don’t think I made a mistake, but this is…interesting. The first thing you notice is the Cherry Heering for sure. It adds a heavy fruit base with sour notes immediately, along with an unexpected viscosity foreign to most cocktails. It’s not super thick, but it does feel like it coats the palate. What’s funny is  the heavy cherry flavor and the body of the drink itself kind of is messing with my mind. I’m expecting this thing to be cloyingly sweet. Like shave your tongue it’s so sweet kind of thing. But…it just never happens. When the flavors start to turn, your (or at least my) mind braces itself for intense sweet, but instead is given dryer flavors, thanks to the equal parts gin and French (dry) vermouth. But that’s all you really get, is the dryness, with underlying slightly bitter cherry still there.

It finishes that way as well. The thickness of the Heering never really goes away, and the vermouth and gin get caught up and hang around on the palate after you’re done. The aftertaste I think is a bit much for me. It’s keeping me from drinking this as I normally would. However, having this at a slower pace is making this warm up and is having a slightly adverse effect on my already somewhat limited enjoyment of this drink.

Was it bad? No. Would I make it again? Eh…probably not but never say never? It’s not really doing much for me, but your mileage may vary based on how intense of a cherry fan you are. For me, it’s just too much, But certainly worth finishing.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)