You’ve heard of the Old Fashioned? Well, this is The Modern. And wow, there is a LOT going on in this glass!

You’ll need sloe gin, which raises the point that “sloe gin” is mostly a misnomer, although gin is involved. It’s a gin-based liqueur produced by macerating sloe berries with a significant amount of sugar in gin—which is why most of the sloe gins you’ll find are produced by gin distilleries. Off the top of my head, I’m aware of good sloe gins from Hayman’s, Sipsmith, Plymouth, and Greenhook Ginsmiths, and you should be able to find it locally; we currently have Hayman’s at Pinnacle Wine & Liquor.

As for the absinthe, Pinnacle also usually has the perfect size bottle (100 ml) of Absente absinthe on the register counter. Unless you’re a person who actually likes to sip the stuff, 100 ml will last you quite a while. I like “the green fairy” as a cocktail ingredient, as in this case, but can’t get it past my nose to sip it on its own.

THE MODERN
1½ oz Blended Scotch Whisky
1½ oz Sloe gin
½ oz Fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Simple syrup
1 dash Absinthe
1 dash Orange bitters (Fee Bros. Gin Barrel Aged)

Shake all of the ingredients with ice, strain the mix into a stemmer, and garnish with a Luxardo Maraschino cherry (maybe two—accidentally, of course … ).

Fruity and refreshing, balanced sweet and sour. Delicious!!