Tyrone – Recipe from the ‘Old Waldorf Bar Guide’

Another Irish county. 

Dash of Orange Bitters 

Two-thirds Sloe Gin 

One-third Italian Vermuth 

Stir; strain 

I never knew Tyrone was the name of a county in Ireland (Northern), although I suspect with a bit of digging through a list of counties there’ll be more than one familiar name. I guess this name as a cocktail is due to the prevalence of the Irish in North America (see Jimmy Lee 14-09).

I’ve developed a rule when it comes to Sloe Gin.

If it says ‘Sloe Gin’ use Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz gin.

And my rule has not let me down, this drink was so damn good in fact that I had another 3, and had others drinking them and reordering as well, bending my restrictions on quantity a little.

This is a great example of using a contemporary product to ‘modernise’ an old Classic and has produced the kind of drink I suspect will find its way onto our A to Z list in the very near future.

The Gin and Vermouth work well, as we know, but by using a gin with a decent ABV and not to much sugar we’re really just adding more flavour to a great classic drink. It does make me wonder if Sloe Gin used to be different 100 years ago, did people fastidiously add sugar to their sloe berry infusions, or just keep it nice and dry without? Making a sloe gin with no sugar might be a good project, instead of the diabetes inducing norm these days.