Remember the Maine is an old cocktail included in Charles H. Baker Jr.’s Jigger, Beaker and Glass: Drinking Around the World, a reprint of the “Gentlemen’s Guide to Classic Cocktails: Exotic Drinks,” first published in 1939.

The book is a very interesting chronicle of cocktails from around the world from early 20th century. The style of writing is more anectdotal and story-like rather than a cocktail recipe book. It has many gems in there but you really have to read the book to find a cocktail recipe you might want to try out.

Remember the Maine is relayed as a “hazy memory of a night in Havana during the unpleasantness of 1933, when each swallow was punctuated with Bombs going off on the Prado.” The original recipe calls for “good rye whiskey, Italian vermouth, cherry brandy and absinthe.”

This version is a “pantry version” made with what we had available. We used the liquor from brandied cherries we had previously made and Herbsaint in place of Absinthe (note: Herbsaint is a wormwood-free anis flavored liquor originally produced under the name “Legendre Absinthe”):

Remember the Maine
1.5 oz. Rye Whiskey (we used Redemption Rye)
0.75 oz. Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1-2 tsp. cherry brandy
1/2 tsp. Herbsaint or Absinthe

Stir with ice “briskly in a clock-wise fashion” to make it “sea-going.” Strain into a chilled “saucer champagne glass” garnished with a lemon or lime peel.

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