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.

Plaza Vieja

This name may seem like nonsense if you don't speak Spanish, but it's essentially a trilingual pun by a guy who speaks only English.  I realize that statement needs additional explanation.

So: the Vieux Carré.  This is one of my favorite "forgotten cocktails" - a subtle, incisive Manhattan variation.  Take one ounce each of rye whiskey, cognac, and red vermouth; add a double dash each of Benedictine, Angostura bitters, and Peychaud's bitters; shake the whole thing and strain into a cocktail glass with a lemon twist.  Good stuff.

Here is a riff, swapping out the cognac for añejo tequila.  Renaming to match, I translated from the drink's namesake (the old name for the French Quarter in New Orleans) to a reasonably equivalent term in Spanish.  I'm not saying it's a perfect translation, but it's a cool name!

1 oz rye whiskey (I really like Bulleit)
1 oz añejo tequila
1 oz blanc or bianco vermouth
2 dashes Bénédictine (~1/2 tsp)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters

Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with an orange peel and enjoy.

The result of this experimentation is more herbal than the original, and somewhat lighter in body; a very satisfying drink when the weather is warmer than normal.  Minnesota, man - go figure.

The Shotgun Wedding

I seriously appreciate the Honeymoon Cocktail.  Here is a riff on that delight, cobbled together from ingredients at hand.

2 oz bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz orange juice
3 dashes Fee's Peach Bitters

Shake and strain over fresh rocks in an old-fashioned glass.