Blenheim Bouquet

Established in 1870, Penhaligon's is one of London's traditional perfumers, with a long-standing and august lineage.

In the late 1860's, William Henry Penhaligon left Cornwall and moved to London to establish himself as a barber. By 1870, he had a thriving business supplying perfume to the aristocracy, including Queen Victoria.

Hammam Bouquet was the brand's first offering, in 1872. Bleinheim Bouquet came next, in 1902. It was made for Lord Randolph, Winston Churchill's father, whose residence was Bleinheim Palace.

Sir Winston is reputed to have worn Bleinheim Bouquet as well, a lemon-scented men's cologne with a good dose of pine and some woody and lavender notes. It's really pretty darn fantastic, I have to say, and just as refreshing on a woman as a man.

Although the original Penhaligan's shop, on Jermyn Street in Mayfair, was destroyed in the Blitz, the line lives on after a renaissance in the 1970s. Today there's a flagship Penhaligon's in Covent Garden, plus all sorts of ritzy department stores and posh perfume boutiques carry the line as well.

A definitely different spin on the "celebrity fragrance" idea, indeed!

Mr. Churchill's Father

Winston Churchill had a complicated relationship with his father, Lord Randolph Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough.

Sir Winston wrote in Life of Marlborough, that "famous men are usually the product of an unhappy childhood. The stern compression of circumstances, the twinges of adversity, the spur of slights and taunts in early years, are needed to evoke that ruthless fixity of purpose and tenacious mother-wit without which great actions are seldom accomplished."

Perhaps thinking of this, in 1898 he wrote of Mohammed: "Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong; and a boy deprived of a father's care often develops, if he escapes the perils of youth, an independence and vigour of thought which may restore in after life the heavy loss of early days."

Well, after all that, I know I could certainly use a cocktail. And, as fate would have it, there's one called The Duke of Marlborough. Named for Churchill's father? Perhaps. It's a fortified-wine-based cocktail, which would right for Lord Randolph's era.

Let's pretend that if the Duke had been alive to witness all his son's accomplishments, he would have raised a glass to him.

The Duke of Marlborough

1 oz dry sherry

1 oz rosso vermouth

1 dash orange bitters

1 twist orange peel

Stir well over ice cubes in a mixing glass. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, add a twist of orange peel, and serve.

The Blenheim Cocktail

Last night we had some friends over. In honor of Sir Winston, I decided to make Bleinheim Cocktails, created by Joe Gilmore of the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London, in honor of Sir Winston's 90th birthday.

We had over, among others, our bad-ass card-counting memoir-writing friend (Josh Axelrad, Repeat Until Rich, Penguin, 2010), who watched me carefully measure ingredients into the shaker for round two. (Just to review, we're talking brandy, yellow Chartreuse, Lillet Blanc, orange juice and Dubonnet; the recipe is elsewhere on the blog.)

"Wow," he said. "We're really talking a lot of alcohol, aren't we?" he said.

It's true. And it doesn't taste as alcoholic as it sounds — I'd characterize it as a wonderfully aromatic after-dinner cocktail, sweet but still sophisticated, with a lot of herbal overtones. All in all, it's pretty deadly.

The perfect potable for the great man's ninetieth. Cheers!

(The photograph above is of Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill and his father's, Lord Randolph's, family home.)