4) Rusty Bullet

1.5 oz. Bulleit Bourbon
.5 oz. Drambuie

Fill a rocks glass half way with ice, add the Bulleit and Drambuie, and stir. Garish with a twist of lemon.

Make sure that the twist is fresh, and that you hold the lemon over the drink as you pull the twist off the fruit. It may sound a bit nitpicky, but the essential oils released into the cocktail from the lemon add an extra dimension to the overall flavor. As has been said by more talented people than I, it's like salt in cooking. You don't really notice it when it's there, but you sure as hell notice it when it's gone (I don't think they say "hell", but Ed and I? We're rebels).

This one went quite smoothly for us, and is a good illustration of the idea that sometimes the simplest drink can be the most rewarding. I pretty much wanted to do a Bulleit/Drambuie cocktail cause I had fallen in love with the idea of having a drink call a Rusty Bullet. Why are you looking at me like that?

Ed picked out the proportions, and I thought the idea of garnishing it with a bruised mint leaf would put a unique twist on it. Ed didn't agree with me, because he's a killjoy - I'm not just saying that because he's better at this than I am either. He was lemon all the way, so of course we made one of each (oh the horror of having to try several versions of our drinks! It's not easy, but we do it cause we love you). We tried the mint version first and found it less than striking. The mint was hardly present at all, and left the overall drink flat. Also, having a sad, solitary mint leaf floating around in the drink like Joe Gillis was somewhat aesthetically displeasing.

Fortunately the lemon version was a straight up glass o' happiness. You could smell the lemon and Drambuie even before the glass got to your nose, but it wasn't at all overpowering. The drink itself was at a perfect balance - Bulleit has a somewhat higher amount of rye than other bourbons which creates somewhat of a sweet mouth feel which provided an excellent compliment to the herbal notes of the Drambuie, the two being tied well together by the slight hint of citrus.

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