Martini: Calling Gary Gillman, et al...

Was tickled to find Lillet locally today (in two versions, marked identically. I guess they figure we're bright enough to establish which is Lillet blanc. I think I was...) -- only to be disappointed to discover, when reviewing this thread, that Fleming used vodka, too. Vodka! How dare he?! I NEVER keep vodka in the house (except when Gary leaves me some:grin:)!
So, rather than surrender, I just split the vodka portion between the gin and Lillet. I realized later I should, rather, have split it proportionally -- making something like 3/4 part Lillet and 3-3/4 part gin -- but I wasn't that astute in my disappointment.
Still, stirred with an ice cube thereafter dropped in the glass -- a la 'Ay-ed' :lol: (you miss the South, really, don't you?!) -- it's pretty darned good!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gillman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eswQl-hcvU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLFGn...feature=fvwrel

For Tim S.

Gary

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Gary, sometimes my life is an enigma even to me: the Seventies spanned my high school and college years, and yet I never was able to muster much (any?) passion for them, even while I was living it. Little has changed since. Absent the 'rock opera', "Tommy", I might never have heard of The Who.
On the other hand, my 4-year-older brother once upon a time had a 2-track (yes, TWO-track, with four songs per tape), hand-held tape player, and "Mellow Yellow" was featured on his Donovan tracks. I've heard it posited that he was singing about smoked banana skins, female sexual stimulating devices, or James Joyce-referenced buttocks (see pg. 719 of the first American version), but this is my first exposure to the suggestion -- however tongue-in-cheek -- that it might have been gin. Makes as good sense as the others, frankly...
Interesting that Paul McCartney reputedly played the bass (but did NOT do vocals, as commonly believed) on these tracks, and that Donovan -- a friendly acquaintance to the Beatles -- played a bit part in writing the song, "Yellow Submarine" (also from 1966), contributing the "sky of blue, and sea of green" line.

Thanks Tim! Donovan, whose real name is Donovan Leitch, is a talented singer-songwriter from Scotland. He still tours and performs his famous songs, of which Mellow Yellow is just one. I never thought much about the lyrics, it just seemed a typically spacey 1960's word play of some kind, but loved the music. The bassist was John Paul Jones, later famous as bass player for Led Zeppelin. Paul McCartney did play some bass on the album on which Mellow Yellow appeared I think, but not that song. The bass helped make the song what it is.

Tim, how were those two kinds of Lillet identified and which did you get? Does this mean the original version is again available?

Gary

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Originally Posted by Gillman

...Tim, how were those two kinds of Lillet identified and which did you get? Does this mean the original version is again available?

Gary

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Attachment 11953
Gary, this is the label like that on the bottle I purchased, and on the bottle of 'rouge' beside it -- but neither bottle (nor label) had any designation, a la 'blanc', 'rouge', et al, on it.
I bought the yellow wine, figuring it to be the 'dry', the red the 'sweet'. As I noted earlier, I guess they just figure we ought to be smart enough to figure it out.

Okay thanks, you definitely bought the right one for the Martini!

Gary

How does the "new old" Noilly Prat work in a martini? I haven't needed a bottle since they changed.

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Originally Posted by craigthom

How does the "new old" Noilly Prat work in a martini? I haven't needed a bottle since they changed.

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From everything I recall about the change, the new formula will be sweeter and more floral. The old one was specially formulated for the 20th century American demand for the dry martini - "dry" meaning not sweet. The new one is aimed at the aperitif wine market.

Tim

I can't keep up with all these changes. At least Bourbon tastes the same for the most part.