Cheers: The country cocktailian: anatomy of a cocktail

"I can see the Eiffel Tower from my hotel window," Mardee, my wife, told me over the phone. I wish that I could have been there with her. Paris is so romantic, and it had been so long since we'd been in the City of Lights together. Many years ago, though, we'd had foie gras and roasted chicken at L'Ami Louis, when Louis was still alive, shared a duck at Tour D'Argent, on the banks of the Seine, and wolfed down a couple of Croque Monsieur sandwiches and fries when the rich food at the fancy joints became more than we could bear.

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As Mardee went on to tell me more about her travels my mind wandered to the great cocktails of Paris. The Sidecar, an all-time classic that David Embury, author of The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, claimed was invented by a friend of his, "and named after the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened." He never did tell us the name of the bar, though. And we didn't find out who the good captain was, either.

The Bloody Mary, too, was originally conceived at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, circa 1924, by bartender Fernand "Pete" Petiot. In 1934, Petiot was hired by Vincent Astor, then owner of New York's St. Regis Hotel where Petiot then presided over the King Cole Bar, introducing New Yorkers to his creation. The drink was described as "strictly vile" by Embury in the 1952 edition of his book, and I'm inclined to agree, but that's only because I can't deal with the texture of tomato juice. Amazing how texture often matters more than flavor in matters of the mouth.

"So where will you dine tonight?" I asked Mardee.

"I had a big lunch, so I think I'll just grab something light at the Fontana Bar in the Bellagio," she told me.

Yes, Mardee was visiting Las Vegas, and her room overlooked the scaled-down version of the Eiffel Tower, not the Parisian tower built for the 1889 Universal Exhibition in celebration of the French Revolution. But that evening she was planning to go to the very bar where the Clermont Kiss was created by bartender Sean Bigley.

The Clermont Kiss calls for Knob Creek bourbon, a 9-year-old beauty of a whiskey with a huge body, and a round, fruity palate. When I saw the recipe, as is my wont, I looked for some other bourbons that might work nicely in this drink. These bottlings vary stylistically, but there's a great balance of fruit and spice in each whiskey--something that they all have in common with Knob Creek. Experiment with the following bottlings in the recipe below and you should be pleased with the results:

* Elijah Craig Single Barrel 18-year-old

* Maker's Mark

* Rebel Yell

* Jefferson's Reserve 15-year-old

* Old Charter Proprietor's Reserve 13-year-old

* Old Rip Van Winkle Bourbon, 10 summers old

Sean's choice of Marie Brizard Apry liqueur creates a foil for the mint--the apricot notes are pretty forthright, and although the sweetness makes me think of sherbet (something I'm not too keen on), the fruity Cognac base shines through and meshes nicely with the bourbon. For the creator, the combination of peaches and mint is a marriage he loves, and notes, quite rightly, that "the nutty apricot flavor of the Marie Brizard Apry really compliments the nutty flavor of the Knob Creek." Congratulations, Sean--you really thought this one through, and the results were terrific.