under the volcano

2 oz Tesoro Añejo Tequila (1/2 Lunazul Reposado, 1/2 Espolon Reposado)
3/4 oz Lime Juice
>1/2 oz Cynar
>1/4 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz Agave Nectar

Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

Besides the 1927 The Art of Making a Cocktail, another book on my purchase list for Tales of the Cocktail this year was the new Beta Cocktails book. Flipping through it, I noted that it was a reprint of some of old recipes found in the lawsuit-prone Rogue Cocktails with a good number of new ones. One of the novel ones that caught my eye was Under the Volcano created by Kyle Davidson; I was first introduced to Kyle's recipes through his Art of Choke two years ago. Moreover, I assumed that the drink was named after the 1947 novel since very little about this drink reminded me of volcanoes. I first heard of the book while browsing Ernest Hemingway titles on Amazon and it came up as a recommendation. The semi-autobiographical story relates the tale of an alcoholic British consul in Mexico on the Day of the Dead Celebration; the setting at least links the story to the drink's Mexican liquor base. Making this drink caused me to finally get around to ordering the book, so I will hold off on further description of it until after it arrives and I am done reading it. The recipe also calls for an añejo tequila which we sorely lacked; however, a few days later we picked up one from 7 Leguas so we would not be caught short again.
The Under the Volcano took the appearance of a Margarita with the orange liqueur subbed for the dark Cynar and light Yellow Chartreuse -- a combination that worked rather well in the Peralta. The drink greeted the nose with aged tequila aromas darkened by the Cynar liqueur. The bitter sweet lime flavor in the sip was joined by a buttery barrel note; finally, the swallow contained the tequila and a bitter, almost floral flavor.