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Help replicating a Bourbon and Branch drink ("Agent Smith")


Tzatziki

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I went to Bourbon and Branch on a recent trip to SF, and had a cocktail I really liked, called the "Agent Smith", which seemed sort of like a mesh of a Red Hook and a Greenpoint. I recently added Green Chartreuse to my home bar, so I decided to try to duplicate this, but my first attempt fell flat. The cocktail has the following ingredients, and I tried using the ratios in parentheses, which were just my own guesses:

- (1.5oz) Rye Whiskey (I used Bulleit Rye)

- (.5oz) Green Chartreuse

- (.5oz) Punt e Mes

- (.25oz) Luxardo Maraschino

- 3 dash Chocolate Bitters

I fancied myself as having a good palate, but there's so much going on in this drink that I could not tease apart which ingredient was out of balance - all I can tell is that my attempt was vastly inferior to the one I was served.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with a little trial-and-error (my first instinct after tasting the above is to reduce the rye to 1oz and use 1oz of chartreuse), but before I power through my bottle of chartreuse while cringing at the price tag, I was wondering if anyone here had tried this drink or one like it, and has some notion of which measure of mine might be off.

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I'd start with a standard 2:1 Manhattan ratio for the rye:PeM, dash in a couple of the chocolate bitters, then go barspoon by barspoon on the Chartreuse and Maraschino. If you get over 1/4 oz on either/both, I'd add another few drops of bitters.

Chris Amirault

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Sir Luscious got gator belts and patty melts

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As it seems to be described as a Manhattan riff, I would start by bringing the vermouth into a 2:1 ratio with the rye, and dialing back the other ingredients.

Try:

2 oz Rye (Bulleit isn't bad for mixing, but something at 100 proof would probably be better with the other strong flavors here.)

1 oz Punt e Mes

.25 Green Chartreuse

Barspoon Maraschino

Chocolate Bitters to taste

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True rye and true bourbon wake delight like any great wine...dignify man as possessing a palate that responds to them and ennoble his soul as shimmering with the response.

DeVoto, The Hour

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Great minds...

...or, even broken clocks.

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True rye and true bourbon wake delight like any great wine...dignify man as possessing a palate that responds to them and ennoble his soul as shimmering with the response.

DeVoto, The Hour

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