Trunk of bourbon, branches of syrup, roots of Chartreuse

The Seven Grand’s bar manager Brett Winfield wants to give it to you straight. But before he does, you better have a cocktail — or, as he calls it, “a Whiskey Delivery Method.”

“We don’t consider ourselves a cocktail bar but a whiskey bar that does cocktails,” he says of the Seven Grand. “Our sales are about 80 percent whiskey. We definitely take the most pride from our whiskey selections. But, unfortunately for a lot of people, you can’t just serve straight whiskey, so the cocktail is a way to get them interested in whiskey with the hopes that they will be ready or care to drink whiskey neat.”

With 530 whiskey labels on the wall in hand’s reach behind him, Whitfield recommends that those starting out on the amber waves of liquid grain see the forest for the trees with one of his favorite WDMs — the Sherwood. Named after Robin Hood’s playground, the Sherwood is an herb-and-spice-laden spin on the Sazerac.

“We call it the Sherwood because it’s kind of piney and kind of herbal — kind of like a forest,” Whitfield says. “So, Sherwood is the name we came up with.”

According to Whitfield, the Sherwood builds off a bosky trunk of bourbon whiskey with a complex branch work of a house syrup while rooting it all in a Chartreuse wash.

“On your first sip, you get a rich oaky, bitter taste,” Whitfield explains. “It’s like the fall spices you would get in an apple pie — it’s not going to taste like apple pie, but you’re going to get the same sort of spice you taste in one, which works well with the bourbon. Then it finishes on a bright citrus note with the bitters and the forest piney notes from the chartreuse. It has a really great nose to it — like you’re walking through a forest.”

How To Make It

• 2 oz. Breaking and Entering bourbon whiskey
• ½ oz. homemade apple and pear fall-spice syrup*
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• 1 dash green Chartreuse rinse

Put whiskey, syrup, and bitters in a stirring glass, add ice, and stir for about 25 seconds. Strain into a chilled rocks or Old Fashioned glass rinsed with green Chartreuse and garnish with an orange twist.

*Boil one part fresh apple juice, one part sugar and dash of cinnamon until dissolved.