The Sisco Strength Dirty Hybrid Martini

After I made the ladies their choice of Thanksgiving cocktails, I decided to make one for myself. Unlike the sweet cocktails I had just made (Sisco Bay and La Figarita) I decided to shift gears and make myself a stiff drink. I had bought a small bottle of Grey Goose Vodka right before Hurricane Sandy and had yet to crack it open. I also wanted to make a Gin martini but was afraid that if I only used Bombay Sapphire Gin in it that I wouldn't like it. So I decided to take a page out of Ian Fleming's book. Fleming's famed Vesper calls for 3oz Gordon's Gin, 1oz Vodka and .5oz Lillet with a lemon twist. In my case, I decided to use equal parts of the Vodka and Gin to make a sort of Hybrid dirty martini. Here is what I came up with:

Sisco Strength Dirty Hybrid Martini
1.5oz of Grey Goose Vodka
1.5oz of Bombay Sapphire Gin
.25oz of Olive Juice

Build in an ice file shaker and stir until ice cold. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drop three olives into the glass.

So how did it taste? Well I had the ladies taste it and all three of them shuddered and simply hated it. Momma-San called it a "Man's Drink". Well, I guess it was if I drank it. LOL. It was actually quite tasty. The balance of the Vodka and the Gin helped to tame the Bombay Sapphire a bit. I can imagine that a Martini made completely with Bombay Sapphire would not have been appetizing to my taste buds. But the addition of the Grey Goose and the olive juice made for a very tasty and strong cocktail. I tried to find another combination of Gin and Vodka a few days later to see if in fact another Gin would be suitable.

This time I used Tanqueray instead of the Bombay Sapphire with the Grey Goose. What I found was that the using Tanqueray made for a cocktail that was neither as smooth or as flavorful as the one that I made using the Bombay Sapphire.I thought about using Hendricks Gin instead but I'm not sure if the different profile of Cucumber that Hendricks brings would play well with the dirtiness that the olive juice brings to this cocktail.

I think that for my purposes and according to my palate, the combination of Bombay Sapphire and Grey Goose with Olive Juice works perfectly. Any suggestions? Recommendations?

On a side note, maybe the new Bombay Sapphire East Gin would work as well. Here is a brief description from the review on DrinkSpirits.com:

Bombay Sapphire East Gin (42%, 84 proof $35) is an interesting extension in the Bombay Sapphire brand. It features all of the botanicals from Bombay Sapphire (juniper, grains of paradise, lemon peel, cubeb berries, coriander seeds, angelica root, almond, orris, and licorice) and then adds lemongrass and black pepper. These two new botanicals clearly stand out in the nose of the Bombay Sapphire East Gin, giving it a spicier and fuller nose. The lemongrass seems to also boost the lemon in the nose and the black pepper boosts the juniper.

So I guess I have another mission to embark on. This time to the far East.

Until Then, Happy Drinking
Sisco Vanilla