norwegian wood

1 oz Aquavit (North Shore Distillers)
1 oz Applejack (Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Last night as Andrea was finishing up her Thai chickpea dish, I flipped through Imbibe magazine and found the perfect aperitif, the Norwegian Wood. The drink was created by blogger/bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler of Clyde Common in Portland, OR, featuring a local-to-him aquavit Krogstad. Since I lacked that particular one, it gave me a great excuse to use the North Shore Distillers' one. The Norwegian Wood started off with a great lemon nose and this was followed by a variety of complementary flavors. Two of the most notable were how the aquavit and the Chartreuse played together and how the sweet vermouth and apple brandy interacted. In addition, the aquavit I used was very citrussy and it worked well with the lemon oil from the garnish and the orange peel notes in the vermouth. Andrea liked the hot sharpness in the middle of the sip, and these notes jived with the spicy Thai food once dinner was served. Moreover, she enjoyed the lingering apple flavors from the brandy.