What a great recipe this is! OK, I confess. I did add a few things as other reviewers suggested. I imagined this recipe, as written, to be perfect for a spring or early summer day. What I was looking for during this freezing winter was something more akin to a rustic, outdoor Tuscan summer day. Never been there in any season, but no matter. This recipe has come close to that perfect dreamt of moment. Thanks for putting this tasty dish forward! P.S. Unlike a rustic-outdoor-Tuscan-summer-day-feast-family-that-lives-behind-me, cleanup was a snap!

This has been my top listed American cocktail for decades. My choice of ingredients are Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Martini & Rossi Rosso Vermouth, Angostura Aromatic Bitters, and a large, stemmed Maraschino cherry. My method of choice to build this mythical drink is to stir the contents in a metal shaker for a full minute. A glass shaker is acceptable, but for some reason it just doesn’t get the drink cold enough. Stirring produces a crystal clear and icy cold drink. Pour gently into the glass so as to avoid producing bubbles. A well-chilled stemmed glass is essential to keep it cold. Shaking taints this classy drink, it destroys its magic, its romance associated to days when elegant cars and elegantly dressed men and women occupied swank surroundings. In spite of the Great Depression, there has never been a more classy period in the 20th century than the 1930‘s. Follow the recipe exactly and you have a concoction that, on your death bed, will be your final request for remembrance of a life well lived.