Remember Otto!

What makes a great cocktail?  First and foremost, it needs to taste great.  It also helps when the ingredients aren't so rare that they are unobtainable.  Plus, the drink should be easy to construct.
A drink become legendary when there is a story behind it, if it stirs emotions, if it brings back a memory, or even if it teaches a bit of history.

Enter Remember the Maine!  This drink is a variation on a Manhattan, its origins are excellently explained and chronicled by America's cocktail guru Jeffrey Morgenthaler here.  The history behind the actual historical event, in case you don't remember your 12th grade history, is recapped here.  Basically, the drink was named to commemorate the explosion of the American 2nd Class Battleship Maine in Havana harbor, February 15, 1898 that caused the death of approximately 260 American sailors.  The tragedy lead to a nationwide outcry and helped push the United States to war with Spain two months later.  The famous rally cry of "Remember the Maine!  To Hell with Spain!" recaps the fervor of the time.

It is with this cocktail and history in mind that I have crafted a new libation.  It is a simple variation on Remember the Maine.  Given the current international political situation with the United States and North Korea, I call this drink Remember Otto!  As you may recall, Otto Warmbier was the American University Student who was convicted of stealing a poster in North Korea in 2016 and was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.  Shortly thereafter he suffered a neurological injury and he was ultimately returned to the United States in June of 2017 via medical evacuation.  He was found to be in a vegetative state, and died shortly upon returning.  The cause of death was anoxic brain injury.  President Trump and Otto's family suggest that North Korea tortured him, causing his death.  We will never know what truly happened while he was a prisoner there.

Remember Otto!

Ingredients:
2 oz rye (I used Old Overholt)
3/4 oz amaretto (Disaronno)
2 tsp Cherry Heering Liqueur
1 tsp absinthe (Grande Absente)

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass.  Add fresh ice.  Mix with a bar-spoon for 40 seconds, or until well cooled.  Strain into an old fashioned glass or coupe.

Let us not forget this young man.  The sweetness of this drink is a tribute to the American spirit.  The rye adds strength and grit.  The absinthe adds mystery.  Who knows if he really tried to steal a North Korean propaganda poster?  And so what if he did?  That's the American Spirit!  The absurdity of his sentence is only outdone by the tragedy of his punishment.

May this drink and his memory lead to strength, freedom over the Korean peninsula, and a peaceful outcome in international brinkmanship.

Make the Otto, compare to the Maine, and leave your thoughts in the comments!