A backbone of dry gin carries the apricot perfume of apricot brandy, tightened by fresh lime and a couple of dashes of Peychaud's into a bright, fruit-edged sour. Served cold and up, it drinks crisp and tart at first, then the bitters leave a faintly anise-tinged finish that keeps the fruit from tipping into sweetness.
Garnish: Citrus Garnishes
Shaken · Coupe · Up
add
Combine London dry gin, apricot brandy, lime juice, and Peychaud's (Creole) bitters in a shaker.
shake
Add ice and shake well until chilled.
strain
Double-strain into a chilled coupe, served up.
garnish
Optionally garnish with a split kumquat.
The drink takes its name from the Pendennis Club, a private club in Louisville, Kentucky, where it was being mixed around 1910 before reaching print in Washburne & Bronner's guide of 1911. Who actually devised it is unclear — the club's manager, Louis Herring, is one possibility, an unnamed bartender behind the club's bar another. That early recipe stirred dry gin with Hungarian Apricotine and half a lime's juice over shaved ice; by Baker's 1939 version Peychaud's bitters had joined the mix, with a kumquat as an optional garnish. The modern standard settles on two parts gin to one of apricot brandy and is shaken rather than stirred.