The Walter Gibson Martini

by Lisa Elbert, Tastemaker in Residence and Will Blunt

“When you’re in a new city, there’s something special about drinking a martini at your hotel bar,” says Bartender Pietro Collina of New York's NoMad hotel. Named for the son of NoMad’s wine director, the Gibson-esque drink is built to mimic the director’s favorite expression of chenin blanc. Each ingredient plays up a characteristic of the grape: pineapple, apple brandy, Dolin blanc and dry vermouths, two gins, vodka, and the 1994 Moulin Touchais itself. He batches the drink in a beeswax-lined bottle that’s corked and freezer-chilled for two hours. The wax imparts an opulent (late-harvest/bottle-aged) texture, and guests can skewer and stir from a sidecar of pickles.