Zachary Faden is an academically trained historian turned bartender with a passion for the craft and the story of spirits and cocktails. He has been a bartender and supervised drink programs throughout the Washington, DC area and is currently the Director of Spirits Curation and Education at the Museum of Distilled Spirits. 

Among other honors, he won the 2017 Tales of the Cocktail Official Cocktail Competition and was the 2nd place runner up in 2018; was selected to the Top 100 for Bombay Sapphire’s Most Imaginative Bartender Competition in both 2018 and 2019; and has been a Woodford Reserve’s Manhattan Experience regional finalist in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

His diverse educational & work background has prepared him for a variety of roles & equipped him to perform well in dynamic environments, whether leading or working on a team & interacting with clients, as well as self-scheduled independent projects. 

The Embrasse de la Terre was made for the 2017 Tales of the Cocktail Official Cocktail Competition, the Year of the Martini. It is one of his favorite cocktails that he has ever crafted.

The year was the Year of the Martini. The Martini, the king of cocktails, has had many recipes, interpretations, riffs, and iterations throughout the years. Yet, the essentials remain spirit, vermouth, bitters, and the occasional modifier. He wanted his version to pay respectful homage to history while simultaneously embracing a modern sensibility. He started with genever, gin's luscious, velvety, malty precursor. In particular, Rutte Old Simon Genever preserves legacy and tradition while innovating with the addition of nuts and celery. The lightness and crispness of Dolin Dry Vermouth de Chambéry is a natural marriage. Yellow Chartreuse replaces the modifier of maraschino or curaçao found in older Martini recipes, adding a herbaceous undertone while also supplying mild sweetness and rich palate roundness. The Bitter Truth Celery Bitters complements the drink's vegetal characteristics and highlights the celery notes of the Rutte Old Simon Genever. The result is an Embrasse de la Terre to kiss the earth. 

Ingredients 

2 ounces Rutte Old Simon Genever ounce Dolin Dry Vermouth de Chambéry
1⁄4 ounce Yellow Chartreuse
3 dashes Bitter Truth Celery Bitters
 
Directions 

Combine the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir to chill. Strain into a chilled coupe. Enjoy. No garnish.
 
The drink blooms while stirred and is pleasantly aromatic.

Zachary also gave his own touch to the Classic Manhattan Cocktail and called it The Standard. It is another one he particularly likes that he made for the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience:
 
The precise origins and original recipe of the Manhattan have been lost in time and mired in mythology. O. H. Byron's 1884 The Modern Bartenders' Guide contains the first two extant written recipes for the Manhattan Cocktail, one dry and one sweet. In the subsequent generations, the Manhattan Cocktail, No. 2 with its sweet, Italian vermouth gained greater traction and prominence. His cocktail, The Standard, is the ideal recipe for the modern Manhattan.

He chose Woodford Reserve's Rye as the base for The Standard for its bold, assertive character. Its spicy notes, aromatic nose, and finish of winter baking spice and dried fruits are paired with Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth's lush and rounded expressions of vanilla, clove, and citrus. The Tempus Fugit Spirits Abbott's Bitters historically recreated offering of a spice bouquet including Angostura bark, nutmeg, and cinnamon marries the union of whiskey and vermouth and transforms it into The Standard. The oil from a freshly zested orange peel finishes Zachary's recipe for the ideal Manhattan.