jack of no trade

2 oz Laird's Applejack
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
1/2 oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry (Lustau)
1/4 oz Campari

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cucumber slice (omitted).

Two Saturdays ago, my nightcap was the Jack of No Trade created by Ted Kilgore of Planter's House in St. Louis. Ted crafted this drink at Gaz Regan's Cocktails in the Country this year; given how Regan has a proclivity to Negronis, Ted was probably inspired to create a variation just as I had with the René Barbier the year before. Ted's riff utilized applejack as the base spirit, and the split grape modifiers that included Punt e Mes reminded me of two of Phil Ward's drinks, namely the Cornwall Negroni also created at Regan's event and the Baltasar & Blimunda.
The Jack of No Trade began with a raisin aroma with hints of apple. The sherry continued into the sip along with the Punt e Mes as a rich sweet grape flavor, and the swallow offered the complexity of apple and bitter raisin notes with an orange and dried fruit finish.