[bonal bonito]

2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
3/4 oz Bonal
1/4 oz Crème de Cacao

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Twist an orange peel over the top and discard.

Last week SeanMike of Scofflaw's Den was in town so I took him to Drink on Tuesday night. There we found seats at the center bar in front of bartender California Gold. When I was talking to Cali about drink ideas, she mentioned that they had Bonal in stock -- a product imported by Haus Alpenz that I had fallen in love with when I tasted it at Tales of the Cocktail last year. Bonal is a quinine-laden sweet vermouth-like aperitif wine flavored with gentian (gentian is one of the main flavors in Moxie soda). And after hearing that she had a Mezcal drink using the Bonal in mind, I gave her the thumbs up!
Cali said that the drink was created by John Gertsen and Misty Kalkofen and was originally developed using Boroli Barolo Chinato, another quinine-containing aperitif wine but one with the fullness of Barolo wine. The drink's nose was rich with orange oils and Mezcal's smoky aromas. Moreover, the nose contained funky notes from the extra tails from the Mezcal Vida's distillation style. On the sip, the rich Bonal notes complemented the Mezcal's spiciness rather well. Moreover, the sip started somewhat sweet and dried out on the swallow. The Bonal donated a nice layer of bitter complexity to the drink that blended well with the crème de cacao.