August 11-Vieux Carre

Everyone talks about the American Trilogy being the cocktail story of American spirits, but this is like a sequal trilogy. While yes the American Trilogy talks about the begining of American Spirits, this talks about the continuation. You see in New Orleans and all of Louisiana, the French spirits like Cognac were still king even when American Rye Started to hit shelves. This cocktail was one of the first to use both in its build, showing the evolution from the French spirits to the American spirits that would rule the cocktail scene in the Louisiana area.

As stated before, this cocktail uses a split base of cognac and rye. It is for this, I would use a spicier rye to hold up to the cognac and make the cocktail not too sweet. This cocktail also uses sweet vermouth, I would use a French one like Dolin. It also includes Peychaud’s Bitters for that New Orleans creole style. Not to mention the French Benedictine also adding to the vibe of this cocktail while providing those strong botanical notes. All of these together make a very boozy but satisfying cocktail.

Full judging here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GcQiG0RQv3AnwX1Sw7U96fXcmyIEnxBKF9Zgs7G69E0/edit?tab=t.0