Dark Post Road

Recently I went to the Culinary institute of America in the Hudson valley and ordered this drink in the American Bounty restaurant. It was really great. I spoke to the bartender afterward and asked him about the vermouth he used since all the drinks with vermouth I had been making ended up tasting like medicine. He told me he used Carpano Antica Formula “Its a little pricey but makes the difference” then he was nice enough to write down the recipe. Unfortunately I still haven’t found a liquor store that sells that particular vermouth. I did however find its bitter counterpart “Punt E Mes”*. This along with the fact that I didn’t have the 12 year rum that it included begged for a variation on the drink. Because of the dark rum and bitter vermouth I just added “dark” to the name #creative.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ ounces Blackwell Dark Rum
• ½ ounce Punt E Mes Vermouth
• ½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• 1 Dark Morello Cherry

Add all ingredients into a mixing glass and stir with ice.   Strain into a martini glass and garnish with the cherry.

Original Ingredients for “Post Road”

• 1 ½ ounces Zaya 12 year rum
• ½ ounce Antica Sweet Vermouth
• ½ ounce Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• I think they added a brandied cherry but can’t remember.

*Punt E Mes is also made by Carpano but it has a deep bitter grapefruit taste. A hundred times better than the Martini & Rossi I had.