This post has been sitting in the queue for a while, waiting for me to come up with something clever to say so that I could publish it. I could blame my procrastination on the wedding or Tales or any number of things but, frankly, this cocktail—or more to the point, its namesake—is a bit intimidating to write about.

The Algonquin is named for the Algonquin Hotel in New York City. Its location at 59 West 44th Street made it a central meeting location for writers, editors and others associated with the surrounding environs, among them the offices of New Yorker magazine and theaters like 49th Street and Punch & Judy (long since demolished). All of this is well and good, as New York has long been the epicenter of theater and writing in the United States, but in June of 1919, a group of friends began meeting there regularly for lunch, a gathering which would continue for eight years and come to be known, at various times, as the Algonquin Round Table and the Vicious Circle. Among the members were humorists, playwrights, screenwriters, actors and editors like Robert Benchley, Edna Ferber, George S. Kaufman, Harpo Marx, Robert E. Sherwood, Alexander Woollcott, Donald Ogden Stewart and, my personal favorite, Dorothy Parker. As famous for her well-fortified liver as for her quick, biting wit, Ms. Parker is a legend worth remembering—even if you don’t know her name, you’ve probably quoted one of her more famous lines: “What fresh Hell is this?”

All of which has very little to do with the cocktail since it, like the group, was named after the hotel and it’s unlikely that any of the Vicious Circle had an Algonquin at the Algonquin, with Prohibition and all. But I love Dorothy Parker, so I guess we all have to live with my meanderings.

1½ oz rye whiskey
¾ oz dry vermouth
¾ oz pineapple juice

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry, if you so desire.

If you don’t like rye whiskey or stiff, old-fashioned cocktails this probably isn’t going to do much for you. If you do like rye and/or classic-style cocktails then this will be right up your alley. The drink works best if you have a vermouth that is on the sweet side, such as Dolin Blanc, as a drier more herbaceous vermouth can wreak havoc depending on the rye you use. The combination of pineapple juice and rye is, however, absolutely lovely and the vermouth just sneaks around the edges to round the flavors out. You don’t need to garnish with a cherry, as it doesn’t add much to the flavor of the drink—but who doesn’t love finding a nice brandied cherry at the bottom of their glass?

Like this? We also suggest:

• Satan’s Whiskers — bitters, cocktail, curaçao, gin, halloween, orange, sweet vermouth, vermouth
• Chrysanthemum — absinthe, cocktail, vermouth
• Burnt Fuselage — brandy, cocktail, cognac, vermouth
• Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: The Los Angeles Bar Stumble, Downtown Edition — bars, cocktail, gin, orange, vermouth
• Wise Old Sage — agave, cocktail, Grand Marnier, grapefruit, pineapple, rum, sage

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