Vieille Ruelle

I have riffed on the Vieux Carré before with very pleasing results.  This time, I was prompted by a broken cap on my resident bottle of Benedictine which forced me to try and use whatever I could.  There are a lot of substitutions here, but I decided to keep the naming similar and use the French for "old alley".

1 oz white rum (I used the positively superb Plantation 3 Stars, which I cannot recommend highly enough)
1 oz Laird's Straight Apple Brandy (no substitutions, please)
1 oz Cocchi Americano
2 dashes Benedictine (~1/2 tsp)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters

Shake briefly or stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with an orange peel.

Beignroni

A french-y version of the wonderful Itatian-ish Negroni, one of my personal favorite cocktails?  Sure, and why not call it something that nobody will be able to pronounce correctly?  Say the first part like "beinget".

1 oz cognac
1 oz Cynar
1 oz sweet vermouth
1 dash orange bitters

Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The Calm Shallows

This drink tasted vegetal, pungent, and even slightly briny to me at first, but wasn't dark enough to merit the name "The Briny Deep".  I think I'll have to make something befitting that before long, but for now:

1 1/2 oz aquavit (I absolutely love North Shore, but use Linie if you can't find that)
1 1/2 oz dry vermouth (Dolin in this case)
1/2 oz persimmon syrup
4 dashes orange bitters

Stir in a rocks glass over ice and top with a dash of soda water.  Stir again and garnish with an orange twist.

Jaqueline Rose

Here's a nice, light rendition of the excellent Jack Rose cocktail:

3/4 oz applejack (I like Laird's Straight Apple Brandy)
3/4 oz rye whiskey
3/4 oz dry vermouth
3/4 oz real pomegranate grenadine
3/4 oz lime juice

Shake and strain into a small cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon twist if you're like that.

Just some simple experimentation, but I like the result in this case.

French 75 Variations

I am a big fan of the French 75, which is itself a riff on the Collins, the grandfather of all long drinks.  Here are a couple of random, experimental variations which proved too tasty not to write down.

#1:
1 3/4 oz Plymouth gin (London Dy would work well too)
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz real pomegranate grenadine
1/2 oz lemon juice

#2:
1 3/4 oz aquavit (I used North Shore, which is recommended if you can find it, Linie if you cannot)
3/4 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz citrus syrup
1/3 oz orange juice
1/3 oz lemon juice

#3
1 3/4 oz cognac
1/2 Galliano
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter apricot liqueur
3/4 oz lemon juice

For all of the above: shake and strain over fresh rocks in a tall glass, then top with 1 oz Champagne or Cava.