SiscoVanilla Has An Algonquin Cocktail Part I

For today's Old Man Drinks cocktail challenge, I decided to go to the beginning with the first cocktail recipe listed in the book: The Algonquin Cocktail. Now many of you might believe that this cocktail was named after the famed (or infamous depending on your POV) Algonquin Roundtable aka the Vicious Circle.

Starting in 1919, this daily lunch group was made up of such World War I luminaries as Dorothy Parker, Harold Ross, Robert Benchley, Franklin Pierce Adams, Heywood Broun, Ruth Hale, Alexander Woollcott, Harpo Marx,  George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, Edna Ferber, and Robert Sherwood among the many. This daily lunch date lasted for roughly 10 years. In reality, as per Old Man Drinks author Robert Schnakenberg the cocktail was actually named after the host of the Algonquin Round Table: The Algonquin Hotel.

For more on the Algonquin Round Table, I recommend you check out my October 28, 2013 post the Dorothy Parker-Collins and the post The Vicious Circle: Who’s Who of the Algonquin Round Table by John Calhoun from June 2, 1014 for more information

The New York City Landmark Algonquin Hotel opened on November 22, 1902 at its current location (59 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036). As the story goes, the original name for the hotel was The Puritan. Clerk and future owner Frank Case convinced then ownership to change the name of the hotel to The Algonquin after the Native American Algonquin tribes that populated the New York City area before the arrival of the Europeans.

In terms of the cocktail, according to David Wondrich in his Esquire Magazine article Algonquin from October 5, 2007, there have been many attempts to name a cocktail The Algonquin with one particular cocktail being made with Rum, Blackberry Brandy and Benedictine. The version in the Old Man Drinks book made with Rye Whiskey, Dry Vermouth and Pineapple seems to be the standard and more popular version of the cocktail, though the number of ounces for each ingredient differs from what I have found online, the basic ratio of 2-1-1 remains the same. Here is how I made it:

Algonquin Cocktail
2oz Bulleit Rye Whiskey
1oz Martini Extra Dry Vermouth
1oz Pineapple Juice

Stir with ice in shaker (if you want it to be frothy, shake it baby,) pour into chilled glass.

While the Old Man Drinks refer to this drink being tart and Wondrich refers to it being spicy, I found it to be neither. I actually found it to be rather flat. As if something was missing from it. While you could feel the booze, you couldn't taste it in the least. I couldn't taste the spiciness that Rye Whiskey seems to bring to a cocktail. Here are my thoughts on the Algonquin:

I think what I'll do is make one with the classic old man of Rye Whiskey: Old Overholt. 

With that I'll leave you with the following drawing of the Algonquin Round Table by famed caricaturist Al Hershfield. 

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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