Tuxedo Cocktail Recipe: Old Tom Gin and Dry Vermouth

Ingredients

1 oz Old Tom gine.g. Hayman's · Ransom · Jensen's · Tanqueray
1 oz dry vermouthe.g. Noilly Prat · Martini · Dolin · Cinzano
½ bar spoon maraschino liqueure.g. Luxardo · Maraska · Lazzaroni
¼ bar spoon absinthee.g. Pernod · La Clandestine · Kübler · St. George · Lucid
3 dash orange bitterse.g. Angostura · Regans' Orange Bitters · Fee Brothers · The Bitter Truth

Garnish: Cherry and lemon twist · Ice: Served up, no ice

Method

Chill a cocktail glass.
Add Old Tom gin, dry vermouth, maraschino, absinthe and orange bitters to a mixing glass.
Fill with ice and stir for 20 to 30 seconds.
Strain into the chilled glass.
Garnish with a cherry and a lemon twist expressed over the drink.

Watch it made

Tuxedo

Taste

Dry and silky with soft juniper, herbal vermouth, a faint anise perfume and a quiet cherry-almond note on the finish. Elegant and moderately strong.

History and origin

The Tuxedo is named after Tuxedo Park, a private residential community in Orange County, New York, founded in the 1880s, and its Tuxedo Club. The same place gave its name to the tailless dinner jacket, which, according to the popular story, was first worn there by club members.

The drink belongs to the family of early dry gin cocktails that also produced the Martini and the Martinez, and recipes under the name appear in American bar manuals from around 1900. Versions varied a lot, sometimes with sherry or different gins, but the modern specification settled on Old Tom gin, dry vermouth, maraschino, absinthe and orange bitters. The International Bartenders Association lists the Tuxedo among its Unforgettables.

Bartender tips

Measure the absinthe and maraschino with a bar spoon; too much of either easily dominates the delicate base.
Use fresh, refrigerated dry vermouth, since it makes up half the drink.
You can rinse the glass with absinthe instead of adding it to the mix for a lighter anise touch.

Variations

Sherry Tuxedo: Some early recipes used sherry in place of dry vermouth; a dry fino gives a nuttier, saltier drink.
Martini: The dry cousin: London dry gin with a smaller measure of dry vermouth, no liqueurs.
Tuxedo with London dry gin: Easy twist: London dry gin makes a drier, sharper drink; add a few drops of sugar syrup if it feels thin.