islay louisiane

1 1/4 oz Talisker 10 Year Scotch
1 1/4 oz Benedictine
1 1/4 oz Cocchi Vermouth di Torino (Sweet Vermouth)
1/8 oz Kübler Absinthe (1 barspoon)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters
2 dash Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass pre-rinsed with Herbsaint. Twist a lemon peel over the top and discard.

The third and final stop on my Sunday bar crawl was No. 9 Park. The drink I requested from bartender Tyler Wang was the Islay Louisiane. Bartender Ted Kilpatrick was on hand to explain how the drink was a riff on the Cocktail à la Louisiane; moreover, the collaborative effort of Ted, Tyler, and Sam Olivari originally was going to be called De La Skye after the Isle of Skye in northern Scotland before they decided on converting the "à la" to "Islay" in the name. While Green Street has the original on the A-to-Z menu as it appears in Famous New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em, the only other variation I have tried was Max Toste's rye whiskey-driven one at Deep Ellum. The No. 9 twist was a step even further with additional smoke and bitters notes.
The Islay Louisiane began with a lemon oil and anise aroma, and as the drink warmed up, it gained some interesting smoke accents. With malt and grape flavors on the sip, the swallow offered up the smoky whisky, the Benedictine's herbal complexity, and the Herbsaint and absinthe's anise. Indeed, I was quite impressed at how well the peat smoke complemented the anise in the drink.