Another month, another Mixology Monday is upon us! I’m limping in at the last minute because, despite our hefty preparations for today’s feature, we managed to muck up the timing and run out of bourbon mere days before the roundup. Oh, the horror! MxMo days are pretty much the only happy Mondays around here—especially when the featured ingredient is one as beloved as bourbon—so we figured it’s better late than no Kentucky.

Bourbon is The Boyfriend’s liquor of choice, so we decided to do something special for the MxMo crowd. We worked and worked (and drank and drank) to present the alchemical wonder of a Sloshed! original for this month’s roundup over at the Scofflaw’s Den.

Aside from being both tasty and refreshing (in our humble estimation), this cocktail has a story behind it. You see, there is this man—we’ll call him John—who has been a friend of The Boyfriend for many years. John is an All-American kind of guy; he’s a football fan, has more Cannibal Corpse records than is probably healthy and he owns the entire (and I mean entire) Pet Shop Boys discography. He dresses up as Tommy Trojan for Halloween. He is the luckiest card player I’ve ever been at a poker table with: I’ve seen him draw two royal flushes with my own eyes. I’m lucky if I can pull a straight flush once in a decade.

All of this gives you an idea of how much fun John is, but there is one long, enduring tradition that withstands the rigors of time—the Penny. Please try not to grimace but the Penny, as envisioned during John’s college years, was a party-starting combination of Early Times and Squirt over ice. (A Dirty Penny being our poor man’s variation without ice: pop the top of a can of Squirt, drink some and pour in the Early Times. Voila! Party in a can.) As you can imagine, we demolished our fair share of cheap whiskey and soda via the Penny.

But times, they are a changin’, and our tastes don’t run to Early Times as they used to (in our younger years, when our livers were strong and our tastebuds were weak). Despite that, we treasured the Penny in our hearts and have resurrected its spirit to suit our more rarified cocktail tastes.

John, this one is for you. Here’s to life!

1 oz bourbon
¾ oz fresh grapefruit juice
½ oz Madarine Napoléon
3 dashes Peychaud’s

Cut a long peel off the grapefruit before juicing, then rub the peel along the lip of a chilled cocktail glass. Shake the first three ingredients well over ice, then strain into the prepared glass. Add the Peychaud’s and twist the grapefruit peel lightly over the surface of the drink to distribute some oil. Garnish with the peel and serve.