lonely dark

3/4 oz Beefeater Gin
3/4 oz GrandTen Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz Cherry Heering
1/4 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz Ginger-infused Applejack (*)
1 dash Bitter Truth's Creole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.
(*) Perhaps sub a ginger liqueur.

The drink that Andrea requested at Backbar was bartender Sam Cronin's Lonely Dark. Sam explained that he had gotten into cocktail mashups lately, and this was his cross of a Widow's Kiss and a Kiss in the Dark. Sam also mentioned that he was inspired by the Widow's Word mashup that he had seen on this blog.
Once the drink described on the menu as "strong and sad" was prepared, it gave forth an herbal aroma that led into a sip that was vaguely fruit flavored from the cherry and perhaps other ingredients. Most of the intrigue lay in the swallow that offered gin and herbal notes with an apple and ginger finish.