Layla - Derek & The Dominos

You know it, you love it, you wanna drink wine and run the mob to it. Layla is one of my favorite songs of all time to play at the bar, so it was well-deserving of an inspired cocktail in this collection. I can’t hear this song without thinking of one of the most iconic scenes in Goodfellas (which was directed specifically with “Layla” in mind), and I only needed to think about it for a few minutes until it became glaringly obvious to me: the only cocktail worthy of representing a song like this is clearly a traditional New York Sour.
New York Sours are my favorite of the sour variety, and they’re made unique by adding a splash of dry red wine that gives the cocktail a beautiful deep red layer. Plus, much of this song’s iconicity comes from it being used in one of the greatest mob films of all time–set in New York, filled with criminals drinking wine in Italian restaurants–so it was kind of a no-brainer. What I love about this cocktail is that not only is the name fitting, but the taste and aftereffects completely represent the song as well. They both start off strong: “Layla” with its iconic seven-note opening riff, and the cocktail with its initial punch from the Chianti. The longer you listen (and drink), they both start to settle in and mellow out–the song slows down to a soulful (and very long) repeating piano solo, and with the cocktail, the slow warmth of the bourbon whiskey eventually overpowers the brightness of the wine.
Ingredients:
2 oz Chianti (or any dry red wine)
1 .5 oz brown sugar bourbon
0.5 oz maple syrup
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz egg white (pasteurized)
Add bourbon, syrup, lemon juice, and egg white to a cocktail shaker and dry shake (with no ice). Add ice, shake again, then pour into glass. Slowly pour the wine over the back of a spoon into the glass so it layers nicely.
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