Yes, it’s newish, but not particularly new, having been based on another cocktail with only the base spirit and proportions changed, and it’s very similar to three cocktails found in CocktailDB.

A while back a cocktailian and longtime reader sent in a recipe that I’d never seen anywhere else, but which he said was the preferred cocktail of Rat Packer Peter Lawford, who’d talk Vegas bartenders through it if they didn’t know it already. I love finding stuff like this, and the drink, called the “Preview“, was pretty good. We don’t drink it much anymore, but it was a good “gateway” gin cocktail as we developed our appreciation (which became our deep love) for that gorgeous botanical white spirit.

To come up with this one I substituted Irish whiskey for the gin, brought the liqueur proportion down and thought of a perfect name — almost the best part. As for those other cocktails with similar ingredients … well, they’d be far more difficult to talk a bartender through these days due to general lack of some of the ingredients, plus I think that anyone who garnishes an Irish whiskey-and-liqueur-based cocktail with an olive is a mad feckin’ eejit.

This drink isn’t terribly complex in flavor, but is actually quite nice and might be a way for people who are still getting used to Irish whiskey to enjoy it in a lovely drink. Let’s raise our glasses to Van the Man …

St. Dominic’s Preview

2 ounces Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey.
1/2 ounce Grand Marnier.
2 dashes orange bitters.
Few dashes Herbsaint, Pernod or other pastis.
Orange peel.

Shake a few dashes of pastis into a rocks (Old Fashioned / whiskey) glass, then swirl around to coat. Pour most of it out, leaving a little puddle of it in the bottom of the glass. Combine the whiskey, liqueur and bitters in a cocktail shaker with cracked ice, stir for no less than 30 seconds and strain into the coated glass. Twist the peel over the drink and garnish with the peel.

Yeah, it’s a long way to Buffalo, and a long long way to Belfast city too …