The Departed

• 1.5 oz. Irish Whiskey (Jameson)
• 0.5 oz. rye (Rittenhouse)
• 0.5 oz. crème de noyaux (Tempus Fugit)
• 0.5 oz. cranberry liqueur (Flag Hill)
• dash of Angostura bitters

Stir gently with ice and strain into old fashioned over ice.

I have been playing a bit with Flag Hill’s cranberry liqueur and thought I might do a play on the Godfather (Scotch and amaretto) that I find too sweet and in need of some brightness. Enter the cranberry. With that in hand, I thought I might go full Massachusetts (though Flag Hill is in New Hampshire, the cranberries come from the Cape) and swap in Irish whiskey for the Scotch. I wanted a bit more bite, so subbed in a little rye for the base and ended it with Angostura. The crème de noyaux has a similar taste to amaretto and is less cloying to my palate, so that was swapped in as well.

Since I was transplanting the Godfather to Boston I thought Scorsese’s film The Departed was a suitable name. I only saw it once so don’t have any clever quotes to throw out to you. Other than whatever you do don’t attempt a Boston accent after drinking this. On second thought, don’t attempt a Boston accent when sober either.