Friday Happy Hour: Aviation

The Aviation is a genuinely vintage cocktail that has gotten some attention in the recent revival of oldies-but-goodies. It fell out of fashion, we suppose, because it's mostly gin. Gin drinks, in general, have been shunned for decades -- and even the preeminent cocktail, the Martini, has become a standard vodka-based cocktail, rather than its original gin. Well, gin is back, baby! This drink might be just a little too obscure, though, because there are some variances on how it should be made. As we see above, it calls for gin and maraschino liqueur, and some lemon juice. In this recipe, from the 1946 edition of Oscar Haimo's "Cocktail and Wine Digest" we see the same basic ingredients, except with lime juice instead of lemon juice:

Plus, he adds triple sec. His recipe is startlingly close to a Corpse Reviver. Regrettably, these references exhaust our library on the Aviation. What these recipes are missing is any reference to Creme Yvette, which is a liqueur that was out of production for many years and has only very recently been reintroduced. Its robin's egg blue color lends an Aviation the soft blue of the open sky. It takes just a dash or two to do the trick; you can also use Creme de Violette. However, for some purists, they say leave out the Creme Yvette/Creme de Violette. We don't purport to be experts here at Rogers Park Retro -- rather, "we report, you decide." We'll let the true experts hash this out. Meanwhile, why not try these recipes and figure out what works for you?

Regardless, the sky is the limit for the Aviation! Cheers!