I love the classic idea of having nuts, chocolate, and dried fruit with coffee and port after dinner. For this recipe, I leaned on the idea of Sangarees and Cobblers, layering flavors over a tannic base and drying the whole thing out with a half-ounce of rye. Pebble ice and a very Victorian garnish make this one quite festive indeed.

This honeyed apple brandy Sour is a combination of a Dizzy Sour and a New York Sour. The New York Sour, as you likely know, is a rye whiskey Sour with a dry red wine float on top. The Dizzy Sour is far more obscure; it debuted in The Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide and consists of rye, Bénédictine, sugar, and lemon, with a rum float, when combined with the New York Sour, subbing in apple brandy and adding a touch of fig syrup, the result is a honeyed, tannic drink with citrus and dried fruit notes.

A stirred drink from The Hoffman House Bartender’s Guide (1905), the Automobile Cocktail consists of equal parts Scotch, Old Tom gin, and Italian vermouth, plus a little gum syrup and orange bitters. I took this template and subbed in apple brandy for the Scotch, using alpine amaro in place of bitters, and sweetening with fig syrup. It’s Martinez-esque, but feels perfect for November with apple and pronounced piney notes. “Motor wagon” was a term used by some early car makers.

This is an ode to my usual digestivo: a mixture of fortified wine (almost always Italian!), amaro, and aperitivo liqueur, served in a single rocks glass with a lemon or orange twist. I named this one after two of my favorite Italian exports–Alfa Romeo sports cars and the original Campari cocktail, the Milano-Torino.

If you were around for Scotch month back in February, you’ll know that I love smoky flavors with grapefruit. This drink takes its structure from the Corpse Reviver No. 2, but borrows the Diki-Diki’s unique combination of Calvados, punsch, and grapefruit. I named this one after Gilbert Rumbold, who illustrated The Savoy Cocktail Book.

I’m not a huge fan of the oft recycled origin stories for cocktails, but I have a soft spot for the one behind the Bentley, which inspired this cocktail. The British racing team won Le Mans in 1927 and the celebration at the Savoy included a signature cocktail built on Calvados and Dubonnet rouge. I took the original formula and added dimension with flavors of juniper, tea, citrus, and black pepper.

Here’s a nice little aperitif with multiple inspirations behind it. It’s an ode to the apple brandy highballs from The Savoy Cocktail Book, but also pays tribute to the Norman tradition of Calva-Tonic. We double up the quinine in this version, which gets its tannic baseline from rouge quinquina.

Last year I had the good fortune of connecting with Zac Overman, who sent me a copy of Cocktails a L’Américaine, a compilation of L’Oursin’s house cocktails. The book is full of complex drinks rooted in American mixology that utilize the best of French and alpine spirits, wines, and liqueurs. But because of our August theme, I chose to feature this elegant bitter highball, which showcases the style of French drinking we’re celebrating this month. It’s named after the Corsican cheesemonger who supplies L’Oursin.

This Manhattan variant is inspired by Harry Johnson’s Manhattan from the 1900 edition of his book. The original features the addition of Curaçao or absinthe, so I plugged crème de cacao into that slot, which gives the cocktail a luscious texture. I’ve stuck with Johnson’s choice of garnish, a simple expressed lemon twist, which plays off the deep base notes of the chocolate and quinquina.

Based on two great drinks of the early twentieth century ― the Elk's (Club) Fizz from the Hoffman House book and the Chicago Fizz, which made its way to the Waldorf-Astoria Bar sometime before Prohibition. In both, the basic fizz template is at play, with the great addition of some aromatized, fortified wine working in concert with aged spirit, citrus, sugar, egg white and soda.