The Aviation is a classic cocktail, named after its unique hue – a light shade of something between blue and violet, reminiscent of the morning sky. It is more than a century old at this point, reportedly printed for the first time in a 1916 book by Hugo Ensslin, the head bartender of the Hotel Wallick in New York.
Despite its early birthdate, the Aviation had faded into obscurity for a time due to the difficulty in obtaining a key ingredient: crème de violette. This violet-flavored liqueur gives the drink its signature color but, for many decades, was not widely available in the United States. But renewed interest in the Aviation was sparked by Paul Harrington and Laura Moorhead’s 1998 book, The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century, which covered the Aviation among many other traditional cocktails. And today, a number of crème de violette options are available, including one by Rothman & Winter, which is the ingredient used in this recipe.
The drink has a strong floral, herbal taste. It shares three of its four ingredients – gin, Maraschino, and citrus (though here lemon instead of lime) with the Last Word, and as such there are some overlapping flavors here. But the use of crème de violette instead of Chartreuse pushes the drink in a more floral direction. Note that, for my preference, less is more with the crème de violette, so if you are tinkering with the portions here, you probably want to exercise restraint in increasing that ingredient.
Here is the recipe:
Aviation
Ingredients
- 2 oz. gin I used Botanist
- 3/4 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 oz. Luxardo Maraschino liqueur
- 1/4 oz. crème de violette liqueur I used Rothman & Winter
- cherry
Instructions
- Combine the gin, lemon juice, Maraschino and crème de violette with ice in a mixing glass and stir.
- Strain into a coupe or martini glass.
- Garnish with a cherry.
Enjoy!