Colonsay Yellow Daisy Gin Cocktail

According to Harry Craddock’s 1930 “The Savoy Cocktail Book”, the Yellow Daisy was the favourite drink of (and was possibly even invented by) Richard William Clarke, who was known as “Deadwood Dick”. Clarke was a onetime Custer Scout, a Pony Express rider, a Deadwood Gulch stagecoach guard and he was the inspiration for 64 “Deadwood Dick” novels by E. L. Wheeler. Clarke was friends with Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickock & Buffalo Bill amongst others and he is buried on Sunrise Mountain, overlooking Deadwood Gulch, South Dakota. I was a huge fan of the TV show Deadwood a few years back, so this cocktail definitely called out to me! That's got to be reason enough to make this!

The recipe was listed as making enough for 6 people, so I’ve just scaled it back to one serving. The type of gin isn’t specified by Craddock, so we’ve used our Old Tom style Cait Sith (pronounced as “Caught Shee”). Whilst London Dry style gins had certainly made it to North America at the time of Deadwood Dick’s life, I’m pretty sure Old Tom Gin is referenced behind the bar of the Gem Saloon in Deadwood. Method and ingredients below:

2 parts Colonsay Gin - Cait Sith

2 parts Dry Vermouth

1 part Grand Marnier

1 dash Absinthe

Shake all ingredients with ice until well chilled, then fine strain into a chilled Nick & Nora. We didn’t have a Daisy, so we’ve just garnished with a yellow flower (not edible)