Duke of Marlborough Cocktail

1/2 Sherry. (Fino)
1/2 Italian Vermouth. (1 1/2 oz Punt e Mes)
3 Dashes Orange Bitters. (Dash or two of Fee’s, Dash or two of Regan’s)

Stir well and twist orange peel on top.

Cheating slightly here by using Punt e Mes instead of regular Sweet Vermouth and as always making the vermouth cocktails on cracked ice instead of up.

I guess the question is, which of the 10 (at the time) Dukes of Marlborough this was named after. It appears likely that they were a Spencer, Churchill, or Spencer-Churchill. The seventh, John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 1822–1883, was the paternal Grandfather of Sir Winston Churchill.

With Punt e Mes, this is quite tasty. Almost Americano-like. Still, I wouldn’t blame you if you chose to add an ounce or so of Gin. I have no doubt that Sir Winston would. Though, now that I think about it, he might just glance at the bottles of Sherry and Vermouth, shrug, and pour himself a big glass of plain gin.

This post is one in a series documenting my ongoing effort to make all of the cocktails in the Savoy Cocktail Book, starting at the first, Abbey, and ending at the last, Zed.