Murder in the Dark cocktail no. bonus: Sylvanus Sling

The novel does not actually contain a recipe for this drink, just the following passage:

“No point in messing about in this climate,” said Sylvanus, nodding to the boy to put the jug down into its ice bucket and allowing him to hand out glasses. “You have a superlative barman, Gerald, and a very tasty one as well. Arms like a wrestler. Just the gentlest beading of honest sweat upon his manly bosom. Said bosom, half bared, was at lickable height and I almost swooned while waiting. He concocted them for me. Singapore slings just like Raffles used to make. Bottoms up,” he encouraged, and drank down his glass.

Phryne sipped. Cherry brandy, gin, lemon juice? Tonic water certainly.

While Ngiam Tong Boon’s original spec for the Singapore Sling that he served at Raffles has been lost to time, either Phryne is being unusually fallible or this is a significantly different drink. It lacks the pineapple juice, lime juice, and Bénédictine that are in every documented version that Raffles has served, and adds tonic water in place of the plain soda water. Sans tonic water this could be Craddock’s version in The Savoy Cocktail Book, but the quinine is a drastic change all on its own.

My interpolation of this is:

• 3 parts gin
• 1 part simple syrup
• 1 part cherry liqueur
• 1 part kirsch
• 1 part lemon juice

Shake with ice, strain into a Collins glass filled with fresh ice, and top with tonic water. Garnish with a macerated cherry.