Recipe
- 2oz apple brandy (I used Laird’s Applejack)
- .25oz Yellow Chartreuse
- .25oz Benedictine
- Couple dashes of Angostura bitters
Stir all ingredients with ice, then strain into a cold coupe
About
So, this is a pre-Prohibition cocktail from the 1895 book “Modern American Drinks.” It’s pretty crazy to me how we can ‘channel’ previous generations of bon vivants and experience cocktails enjoyed hundreds of years back. Thank goodness for the written word.
Anyway, this cocktail is the Widow’s Kiss and incorporates apple brandy along with historic French liqueurs that have been around for several hundred years. This is a strong drink, with the lowest ABV ingredient being 40%, so watch out. The herbalness of the Chartreuse and Benedictine dominates the milder applejack, though it all comes together quite nicely. This is for the lover of spirituous cocktails; serve it in a frozen glass so the drink doesn’t warm up too quickly (makes a HUGE difference compared to room-temperature glassware!). Even though I’ll drink a daiquiri in 3 minutes flat, this one lasts me quite a while. I approve.