Yesterday, J.D. Salinger died at the ripe old age of 91.  We here at the Company thought there couldn’t be a better way to send the old boy off than with the proper belt of a proper beverage, our eyes firmly set on something heavy with the whiskey.

However, we ran into a revealing snag:  there doesn’t exist a Salinger drink.  And so, we filled the gap.

We put the challenge to our friends at Drink, our favorite bar here in Boston, where we spent the better part of the night attempting, along with the encyclopedic knowledge of our bartender Josie, to craft the proper tribute.  It took seven iterations, but at long last Josie created what we believe to be the heritage drink of its namesake.

Here is the recipe of the new, official Company drink.

Catcher in the Rye

1 1/2 oz. Old Overholt Rye Whiskey
1/2 oz. Galliano
1/2 oz. Applejack Brandy
1/2 oz. Meyer’s Dark Rum

Stir over ice with two dashes of Angostura Bitters.  Strain into a chilled old fashioned glass.

It might not be what Holden Caufield would have drank, but it sure would be what Salinger would have.  (Unless the rumors of his Howard Hughes persona are correct, and he was only sipping a nice, warm glass of his own urine.)  By the time it had been perfected we were sufficiently tight, leaning over the bar with this beautiful new concoction at our lips, the last few remaining in the place.

Goodbye, J.D.  Thanks for telling us something; we’ll miss you.