My favorite classic cocktail - the Martinez

I was turned on to the Martinez by Gabby in her cocktail classes at The Mixing Glass, and I’ve been enjoying it ever since. My own take on it is as follows:

2oz Gin (Beefeater preferred, currently)
3/4 oz Antica Formula Vermouth
Barspoon Luxardo Cherry Liqueur
2 dashes Orange Bitters

I also mist the glass with Absinthe, and finish with a lemon peel more than orange peel

Anybody else like these?

Love the Martinez! It could possibly be my favorite cocktail.
I tend to go with the classic recipe (2oz sweet vermouth, 1oz old tom gin, barspoon maraschino, aromatic bitters, lemon) and vary the vermouth, gin and bitters.
A local bartender recently made me one with 2oz old tom, 3/4oz Montenegro, 1/4oz maraschino, 4 dashes of our orange sunshine bitters, and two expressed and discarded orange peels. It was pretty spectacular.

Wow, the ‘classic’ recipe has 2 oz sweet vermouth and 1 oz gin? (Old Tom is my favorite for Martinez - just been trying higher proof gins as of late)

Yes, that’s the original recipe from the 1800’s. But very few people make it in those proportions any longer, most make it closer to how you do.

Are we talking ‘sweet vermouth’ as in Antica Formula? I’m guessing it was, instead, more of a Blanco-type sweetness, or it would be a Vermouth Martini, basically, wow.

I think it was a red vermouth similarly styled to Antica Formula, but I’m not 100% sure.

Maybe the gin they used was 110 proof, then [tease.gif]

PDT makes a 50/50 OT gin to vermouth Martinez as do most bars that I go to, unless it’s a variation. Those tend to be more gin heavy.
From Wondrich, sweet vermouth of the time was mostly like Italian and red (and dry white vermouth French) although I haven’t seen reference to a specific style. He does talk about the precursor to Martini and Rossi as having tried to break in to the US market around 1835. I do like Carpano Antica in a Boulevardier but find the vanilla to be overwhelming with gin. I love Dolin rouge in a Martinez.