Spice, herbaceous, apple
Autumnal and cider-like without any touch of sweetness, the Widow’s Kiss is beautiful and refined. Try it with pâté, or harvest foods, like butternut squash soup.
This drink most likely hails from New York’s Holland House, once the most luxurious hotel in the world. We imagine patrons sipping this cocktail under its elaborate gold and salmon ceiling, wondering afterward what hit them—is the implication that widows are lethal? Apple-y and minty, this drink may have originally featured absinthe instead of Benedictine (which became the stand-in when the green fairy was outlawed in 1912), and we like it with either—although we prefer to use a rinse to prevent the drink from being too sweet. Most recipes also call for yellow Chartreuse, but we enjoy it equally well with green, which we more commonly have on hand. Calvados is an apple brandy from the French region of Normandy.
2 ounces (60 ml) Calvados
1 ounce (30 ml) yellow or green Chartreuse
Benedictine or absinthe, to rinse the glass
Dash of Angostura bitters
Cherry, for garnish
Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass rinsed with Benedictine or absinthe.
Note: This drink is also lovely served in a rocks glass with a single large ice cube. Garnish with a cherry.