Rinse a chilled coupe with absinthe (pour, swirl, dump). Shake gin, Lillet, Cointreau, and lemon with ice for 12 seconds. Double-strain into the rinsed coupe. No garnish.
Harry Craddock, The Savoy, London, 1930. Published in the Savoy Cocktail Book with the famous note: "Four of these taken in swift succession will unrevive the corpse again."
Coupe, no ice. The absinthe rinse is olfactory — the smell hits before the taste.
Bright, complex, gently bitter, with the absinthe haunting the finish. One of the equal-parts canon.