The Whitehall Inn is bringing the glamour back with a new cocktail aimed at drawing more of the local public in. I’m sitting with front of the house manager Jessica Winchenbach in “The Gossip Lounge,” the tiny bar of the Whitehall Inn, with framed photos of Lana Turner for the movie Peyton Place, which of course was shot partly on the inn’s premises. The other famous woman who spent some time at the inn was the 1920s chanteuse/poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay. So it’s only fitting that Winchenbach, who has been working on a brand new cocktail menu, has a created signature cocktail inspired by Millay called “Vincent’s Prayer.” 

“Her sister once worked at the Whitehall Inn and when she once played piano and recited poetry here at the inn around the time when she first started to get popular,” said Winchenbach. Her favorite cocktail was an “In Between The Sheets” which is a version of a Sidecar.

Although the cocktail is chilled, a very warm flavor comes out with the rum and the citrus. Cointreau adds to the orange kick of this deliciously light summer martini.

Watch our video to learn how to make the cocktail. To make this at home, all you need is:

• 1 oz. Remy Martin Cognac
• 1 oz. Bacardi Gold Rum
• 2 oz. Cointreau
• ½ lemon and orange.

Fill a martini glass with ice; set aside. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour liquor in. Squeeze juice into cocktail shaker. Strain into martini glass. Garnish with lemon peel and orange peel, but run the orange peel along the rim of the glass first.

Sitting on the great expansive porch at The Whitehall is a great way to sample their new cocktail menu as they just opened up their Happy Hour 5-7 p.m. through the week (and on Tuesdays have free appetizers!) They have their own garden they use for particular herbs and often, fresh fruit for infusions. “There is so much history here and we’re encouraging locals to come by and just have some fun,” said Winchenbach.

To see how to make other Maine cocktails visit our page: Iconic craft cocktails of the Midcoast.

Kay Stephens can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com