Chancellor

Recipe: Chancellor (serves one)

• 1 oz. bourbon
• 1/2 oz. Amaro Nonino
• 1/2 oz. crème de cassis

Shake ingredients vigorously with ice. Strain into cocktail glass.

We took a mini-vacation to Palm Springs, CA, last week, and loved the mid-Century modern architecture, desert landscape, and art galleries. We also had delicious drinks at the creatively named bar, Bar. Bar has a huge selection of whiskey, well-balanced cocktails, and a laid-back environment.

Our favorite drink was the Chancellor. Most recipes online call for port and vermouth, but we loved the version we had at Bar, with amaro and crème de cassis. After several iterations, we came up with this re-creation. The cocktail is in the same spirit as the Manhattan and Vieux Carré, and begins with an absolutely delicious, sweet blackcurrant aroma. Next time we’re back in Palm Springs, we’ll definitely be back to Bar to try more of their whiskey-based cocktails.

The amaro. Amaros are bittersweet, grape-based, herbal liquors. Bar used Luxardo Amaro, which we couldn’t find, so instead we used Amaro Nonino, which tends to be lighter than most.

The crème de cassis. This is a blackcurrant liquor. We used one made by Edmond Briottet in Dijon, France. It’s syrupy sweet on its own, so we just used a small amount.

The bourbon. We used our go-to bourbon, Maker’s Mark 46.