Widow's Kiss is an old drink. It was created by George Kappeler at New York’s Holland House Hotel in the 1890’s and included in his “Modern American Drinks” when it was published in 1895. It really came into its own five years later when Harry Johnson included it in his famous “Bartender’s Manual“. This classic cocktail has been called “the most evocative drink ever”. That sets the bar pretty high, so I am very curious to see what makes this simple concoction so praiseworthy.

There’s something about the Widow’s Kiss that compels people to write about it romantically. It’s not just that it’s delicious, though it is, or that it has one of the best cocktail names in history, though it does. On the surface, it all seems simple enough: The Widow’s Kiss is a stirred cocktail made of Apple Brandy, Yellow Chartreuse, Benedictine and a dash of bitters. But there’s something else about it, some transportive magic that is difficult to pin down but you can feel it in the way more or less everyone has written about the Widow’s Kiss, more or less since it was invented.

If you don’t have calvados, you can use applejack as a simpler, less expensive substitute. They’re not quite the same, but they’re close enough that it’ll work. My recommendation, though, is to get a decent bottle of the French apple brandy. It’s also excellent for drinking neat!

How to Make a Widow’s Kiss
Grab your mixing pitcher and pop in 1 ounce of apple brandy, I went with Laird’s Bottled in Bond; 1/2 an ounce of Benedictine DOM, 1/2 an ounce of Yellow Chartreuse, 1/4 ounce of cold water to bring that proof down a bit and 2 stabs of angostura bitters. Toss in 4-5 artisanal ice cubes and give things a good stir to the beat of Lita Ford’s “Kiss Me Deadly” for old times sake. It’s funny how things change, when I watched the video today I was enamored with all the huge blocks of nearly clear ice. I suppose middle aged me has different priorities than teenaged me. Oh well. When well chilled strain into a chilled coupe, this is a low volume recipe so you can use one of your smaller ones and garnish by floating a freshly slapped mint leaf on top.

NOTES ON INGREDIENTS
Apple Brandy: If you can, I strongly recommend Calvados, the apple brandy from Normandy, France. It has more weight and earthiness than its American cousins and really completes the cocktail. Boulard VSOP is my favorite readily available bottle for mixing, but really anything you can find will be great. Also excellent is Clear Creek’s apple brandy, from Oregon, which emulates the Calvados style. If all you can get is Laird’s Bonded Apple Brandy, I’d still happily make this drink, just make sure to garnish with a lemon peel, which offers a pleasant misdirection to the brandy’s comparative lack of weight.

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