I found this one while searching online for cocktails using agricole rum. Apparently it was created by Philip Ward of the Pegu Club in NYC. The drink stood out to me because of the use of Chartreuse. Agicole rum has a soft, grassy flavor, not unlike the sugar cane juice it is distilled from. Chartreuse is a strong herbal liqueur but could also be described as grassy. Combining agricole rum and Chartreuse made sense to me on paper, and it works in the glass too. The use of dry vermouth introduces yet another layer of grassy, herbal flavors, and also tones the drink down and cuts the alcohol a little.
The recipe:
2 parts white agricole rum (I used St. James)
1 part Green Chartreuse
1 part French Vermouth (I used Martini Rossi)
Stir over ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint if you happen to have one handy. Introducing a little mint scent via this garnish, or perhaps even by rubbing the rim of the glass with a mint leaf or two, could improve the taste a notch. I didn’t have any mint handy and the drink tasted pretty good without it.
This drink good should go down well with people who like Chartreuse. It is also a good one if you are looking for a complex tasting rum drink that does not require fruit juices. The aroma is mild, like sugar cane, but the taste is full of complexity from the herbals in the liqueur and vermouth. The sugar cane character of the rum, plus the large dose of sugar in the Chartreuse, help tame the strong herbal flavors and make the drink almost gentle.
I have no idea why it is called the Affinity Cocktail #2. The original Affinity Cocktail was a mixture of equal parts scotch, French vermouth, and Italian vermouth, with a touch of orange bitters, and does not seem to be a common drink. There is no obvious connection between the two that I can see.