Hollow Point Cocktail: A Boulevardier Variation with Apricot Liqueur

The Hollow Point is a cocktail that originated from an unknown source, introduced to the Everleigh in Melbourne when a customer requested it. The staff, unfamiliar with the drink, asked for the ingredients and created it on the spot, resulting in a 'pure magic' mixture. The recipe is a stirred combination of bourbon, sweet vermouth, Campari, and apricot liqueur, essentially a Boulevardier with apricot liqueur and a lemon peel garnish. The drink is noted for its summer-friendly profile, with the apricot liqueur enhancing the vermouth's fruitiness and balancing the bitterness of Campari. The article, written by Jason O'Bryan, a cocktail bar manager with twelve years of experience in Boston and San Diego, provides detailed notes on ingredient selection: he recommends sweeter bourbons like Buffalo Trace or Woodford Reserve over high-rye options, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino for the vermouth, and Giffard Abricot du Roussillon as the preferred apricot liqueur, though Luxardo and Rothman & Winter are also mentioned as alternatives. The recipe calls for 0.5 oz sweet vermouth, 0.375 oz apricot liqueur, 0.375 oz Campari, and 2 oz bourbon, stirred with ice and strained into a coupe or over a large ice cube, garnished with a lemon peel. The article also references other cocktail-related news, including an Irish whiskey aged in barrels made from a 1,000-year-old oak tree, a D.C. ballot initiative to ban foie gras, and a new bottled-in-bond Colorado whiskey from Stranahan's.