cornwall negroni

1 1/2 oz Beefeater Gin (*)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Martini & Rossi Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
2 dash Orange Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange wheel.
(*) Generally made at Green Street with Plymouth, but I was given the option of a more robust gin to stand up to the Campari and Punt e Mes.

Two Sundays ago, we decided to stop into Green Street for drinks and make another dent in their large recipe library. For my first cocktail, I asked bartender Derric Crothers for the Cornwall Negroni, a drink created by Phil Ward then of Manhattan's Pegu Club. Why is it called the Cornwall Negroni? Phil created the cocktail in fall of 2005 while or after attending Gary Regan's Cocktails in the Country workshop held in Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, although "country" there is only 50 miles north of New York City.
In this variation, the gin proportion is upped (I believe the original recipe actually contains 2 oz of gin), and the Campari and vermouth components are bridged by Punt e Mes, a bitter vermouth-amaro. The Cornwall Negroni began with an orange aroma from the garnish that mingled well with the drink's Campari nose, and the sip possessed fruit notes from the orange bitters and the wine-based ingredients. Next, the Campari melded with the Punt e Mes on the swallow that was punctuated by a nice, strong gin signature. Thinking back, I have had a rye-based Negroni variant that also included vermouth, Punt e Mes, and Campari (as well as Aperol) called the 1795 that was just as delicious and complex as this one.