Aviation Cocktail

“I am tired of making Aviations,” quipped a local bartender—one of Boston’s best. Once a popular drink, the Aviation slipped into obscurity since its 1916 creation and 1930s heyday. Recently, however, the Aviation has rode the cocktail revival back into the limelight. An approachable, fun drink, bartenders in craft establishments may be sick of the cocktail, but at least its not Jack & Coke.

The key to the drink is maraschino liqueur. Not to be confused with the juice from a jar of maraschino cherries, maraschino liqueur is a liquor made from Marasca cherries, including their pits, which yield an almond note. There are a few purveyors of maraschino liqueur, but none produce a product like Luxardo. Seek it out.

The original Aviation recipe included cr?me de violette. When a popular 1930 recipe book omitted the ingredient, the Aviation was recast without the French violet-flavored liqueur. I prefer my Aviation in that style. One other change in my recipe: here I prefer a fuller-bodied gin, in line with what a 1916′s cocktail would use. Thus I swap my usual Plymouth for Anchor Steam Jun?pero or even Genevieve.

Aviation Cocktail

Makes 1 drink.

Ingredients:

1.5 ounces (1 jigger shot) gin, preferably Anchor Steam Jun?pero Gin
3/4 ounce (1/2 jigger shot) maraschino liqueur, preferably Luxado
3/4 ounce (1/2 jigger shot) freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 maraschino cherry, preferably Luxardo, to garnish

Fill a cocktail glass with large ice cubes. Set aside to let chill

Fill a cocktail shaker with large ice cubes. Add the gin, maraschino liqueur, and lemon juice to the cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds and then let rest until the outside of the shaker begins to sweat.

Discard the ice in the cocktail glass. Strain the contents of the cocktail shaker into the cocktail glass. Toss a maraschino cherry into the glass. Enjoy.