This is one of those recipes that makes a person wonder if its creator was on some hallucinogen the first time he made it—but it’s absolutely delicious. Your only challenge will be gathering all of the ingredients. It’s a Simon Difford creation that I found while looking into cocktail recipes that call for Italicus—a bergamot “rosolio.” In Simon’s case, I’m quite certain he was as sober as a nun when he invented it; he’s just a very inventive fellow. (More to come about Italicus on this blog soon.)

Keep in mind that when Difford’s Guide links to particular brands in its recipe, those are sponsored links and part of how Simon funds his expansive website. It’s a good idea to thank those sponsors by using their products when one can, but we’re also to be forgiven if their specific products are hard to find; for one thing, some of them simply aren’t available in the United States. Therefore, the ingredients I list below include two substitutions of products that are available at Pinnacle (all four of them are). A few words about each ingredient:

The sake: The particular sake Difford called for is the very rarest and best—daiginjo genshu. “Daiginjo” indicates that at least 50 percent of the rice grains used must be polished away, leaving the richest core of the grain. “Genshu” indicates that the sake is undiluted—bottled as brewed, so a little higher in alcohol and much richer in flavor. It’s hard to find exactly a daiginjo genshu sake around Rochester (NY), but there are a number of genshu sakes that will serve very well. The Cowboy Yamahai I used is from Pinnacle Liquor (where I work part-time), but Baytowne Liquor also has a very nice selection of sakes and other Japanese spirits.

The genever: I posted about genever almost a year ago here on Libation Lounge, so you can go to that post if you’d like to learn more. Oude genever, what I call a proto-gin, is malty and sweet, with flavoring from juniper berries. I used DeBorgen’s (also available at Pinnacle), which is the classiest, most delicious expression of oude genever I’ve had yet. 

Italicus: This is a pleasant, tasty, low-alcohol (20 percent by volume) citrus liqueur from Italy. More about it to follow here on my blog, but I recently did this blurb on it for Pinnacle. 

Abasolo Mexican Corn Whiskey: It’s an abasolute coincidence (see what I did there?) that I already had a bottle of this fine product from Mexico. A Pinnacle customer had this during a visit to Mexico late last year and asked if we could get it (we could). It conforms to the lenient U.S. standard for corn whiskey (minimum 80 percent corn in the mash bill, aging not required, and if aged, it must be in used or uncharred oak barrels). 

As already mentioned, I have to admire the creativity of combining these diverse ingredients, and—on top of that—not many cocktails are named after their garnishes. It’s a unique and delicious cocktail.

APPEASE THE CHEESE
1½ oz Cowboy Yamahai Genshu Sake
1 oz DeBorgen Oude Genever
½ oz Italicus Rosolio Bergamatto
1 tsp Abasolo Mexican Corn Whiskey
 
Stir ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled Martini glass or coupe. Garnish with a bleu cheese stuffed green olive.