hanging curve

1 1/2 oz Barbancourt 8 Year Rum
3/4 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice
1/2 oz Aperol
1/2 oz Velvet Falernum
1 barspoon Creme de Cassis

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

For my second drink at Russell House Tavern last weekend, I asked bartender Aaron Butler about the Hanging Curve. He described it as a riff on one of the drinks in The Art of the Bar, but the recipe left me guessing as to what the initial drink was other than a wandering from the Floridita Daiquiri. Aaron lured me in with the description that it was a dry rum cocktail, and the drink did indeed up to that billing.
The Hanging Curves' color was a beautiful combination of Aperol's orange and Creme de Cassis purple, and the nose was dominated by grapefruit. The dryness of the drink stemmed from the lime juice's crispness which balanced Aperol and falernum's sugar content. After the citrus wave on the sip, a pleasant spice from the falernum followed on the swallow. The grapefruit and Aperol made for a beautiful pairing -- it gave me the sensation that the drink contained orange juice instead.