That was a perfectly cromulent afternoon of college football in Ann Arbor.  As the SID and football program spun these real college games into comparable NFL preseason games.  Day or night these games are just a blend of plays.  

The casual fans look at the game and try to glean any useful information from the viscera  of Connecticut, Hawaii or Colorado State.  Meanwhile the parts of the Michigan Blogosphere who break down video get excited for all the interesting blitzes Minter has coming or how Moore and Weiss have concocted new fresh hells for Big Ten linebackers.

             Seth doing defensive UFR 

The more casual fans are looking for cracks in McCarthy’s armor, wondering if the pass rush will get home enough, and if pass protection will be good enough to let JJ cook.  Is this what fans of Alabama, Georgia and OSU feel like all the time?  All college teams have limitations and weaknesses.   Playing a bunch of teams beneath them, waiting for the 1-3 important games a year.  We are all wondering what the team is going to be like. It's amazing how far the team has come in a year.    The defense gets its first test this week vs. Maryland with a 17.5 spread.  Then the offense gets its turn at Iowa in two weeks.

The Baltimore Bang

I won’t promise much but this Gif will be in every Maryland cocktail.

Maryland had a thriving Rye distillery before prohibition.   Maryland had 44 distilleries before prohibition,  almost half in Baltimore.  Maryland ryes were supposedly distinguishable from their Kentucky brethren.  Maryland ryes were said to be sweeter than western ryes.  No one has a great grasp on why this was true.  Some believe that they mixed it with a higher percentage of corn to balance the rye’s spiciness.  Others believe the rye was mixed with malted barley and using a brewer’s yeast to make a sweeter, smoother blend.  Some think some fruit juices, caramels and chemicals were added before 1906, when it was legal to do so.  None of the recipes and distilleries survived prohibition.  

Sagamore is producing a Maryland  rye with a distillery built in Baltimore using the rye and high percentage of corn method.  Also, Leopold Brothers based in Colorado, who I believe had a distillery/ bar in Ann Arbor for a time uses the brewer’s yeast in their Maryland rye.

Maybe the most important thing that Maryland Rye distilleries gave us was Basil Hayden.  Hayden started making a a rye based whiskey in St Mary’s County.  In the mid 1700’s they were being pushed out of the county for being Catholics.  They stopped in Kentucky, found similar weather, and more importantly limestone which allowed them to filter the water to remove impurities.  The rest is fuzzy history. 

Ingredients

1.5 oz bourbon. You want a smoother bourbon for this.  I know I just talked about rye for 4 paragraphs, but I got into a serious internet rabbit hole researching Maryland ryes

1.5 oz apricot brandy.  Brandy is harder to find I’m using the apricot liqueur, which was used in some iterations of the cocktail.  Back off the simple syrup.   

1 oz lemon juice

.25 oz simple syrup

Cherry and orange for garnish

Take all the ingredients pour into a cocktail shaker.   Fill with ice.  Shake until ice cold.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a orange slice and maraschino cherry.  To put more emphasis on the sour/ lemon.  Reduce the apricot to ½ oz and the lemon to ¾ oz. 

Even with the liqueur, Its a very balance drink with a deep flavor profile.  The apricot isn't overpowering.  Very nice for a Noon kickoff.

MgoSalut!

last year:  The Black Eyed Susan

https://mgoblog.com/diaries/mgococktail-maryland