Diamondback Lounge

Cocktail Story

First appearing in Ted Saucier’s 1951 publication of Bottoms Up!, the Diamondback Lounge was a staple at the Diamondback Cocktail Lounge, located within the venerable Lord Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Locally, a diamondback referred not to the deadly rattlesnake species, but to the diamondback terrapin turtle, which doubled as the University of Maryland's endearing mascot. While no credit is given to a single individual for inventing the drink, the inspired split-base of rye whiskey and apple brandy certainly hints at a prideful embrace of all things Northeastern. The inclusion of Chartreuse where one would expect to find vermouth is, if anything, typically characteristic of the way stirred cocktails were evolving during the early mid-century. Saucier calls for the yellow 80-proof expression of Chartreuse in his version of the Diamondback Lounge, which works to temper and balance the other two fiery spirits found within; mix two bottled-in-bond spirits with high-proof green Chartreuse, and you’re asking for one of the more potent cocktails out there.