Hotel D'Alsace

Christmas is less than a week away! In previous years, I've been so busy during December that I've felt like it snuck right up on me. But this year I feel like I've really had time to anticipate and look forward to it. I love Christmas, and I love all the culinary traditions that come along with it. All my favorite blogs are posting recipes for eggnog, hot buttered rum, and bright red drinks involving cranberries and champagne. But not every holiday cocktail needs to be so obviously Christmasy. I'd argue that anything you'd enjoy sipping on while chatting with friends or sitting by a fire is a perfectly good holiday cocktail. Even if it's one that wouldn't be all that out of place at another time of year.

With that in mind, I give you the Hotel D'Alsace. The only thing about it that could perhaps be called Christmasy is the rosemary garnish. I've seen springs of rosemary popping up in cocktails left and right the last couple of weeks, and I have to admit that I'm a big fan. Not only does the piney, herbal taste evoke the holidays, but it basically looks like a piece of Christmas tree in your glass. I love the scent of it every time I take a sip. It was an ingredient in The Last Cocktail, and I'll almost certainly be putting a sprig in something else before the holiday season is over.

The Hotel D'Alsace is a simple formula: whiskey, Cointreau, and Benedictine with a bit of that rosemary muddled in. The result is actually a fairly sweet cocktail, more so than I expected. Admittedly, I didn't have a bottle of Irish whiskey on hand, so I subbed in bourbon, which surely amped that up a bit. I found that I preferred the flavor if I reduced the amount of Benedictine by half. Even such, its sweet, herbal taste of it is the dominant flavor in the cocktail. If you like it, it's delicious. The citrus is far more subtle than I expected, and I might add an orange twist garnish next time as well.

History: The Hotel D'Alsace was created by David Slape at PDT in New York. He named it for the hotel in Paris where Oscar Wilde died, now called L'Hotel. Wilde had been living there for over a year, deeply in debt but still going through five bottles of Couvoisier a week (he famously remarked "I am dying beyond my means"). He contracted cerebral meningitis and spent the last month of his life confined to the hotel. The infinitely quotable Wilde was apparently not too fond of his room's decor, remarking, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has got to go."

Hotel D'Alsace

2 oz. Irish whiskey
1/2 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. Benedictine (I preferred 1/4 oz.)
1 rosemary sprig, halved

Combine Cointreau, Benedictine, and the bottom of the rosemary sprig in a mixing glass and muddle. Add whiskey. Fill with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with one large ice cube. Garnish with the top of the rosemary sprig.

Recipe from The PDT Cocktail Book.