the hunter

2 oz Sage-infused Santa Teresa Rum
3/4 oz Honey-Bourbon-Lemon Syrup
3/4 oz Sparkling Cider
1/2 oz Clarified Apple Cider
1 dash Willet 110 Rye
1 dash Smoking Ban Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass flavored with cinnamon smoke and containing a large ice cube. Garnish the ice cube with mace, flower petals, and a small sage leaf.

After the crowded No. 3 Gin event at Eastern Standard, I decided to relax at the bar at Clio a few blocks away. One of the drinks that bartender Todd Maul wanted to show me was the Hunter where he strove to recreate a Fall afternoon in a glass. The last time he tried to capture a seasonal feel like this was in April with the Spring in the Afternoon. The similarities between the two drinks included a botanically infused rum. For the Spring drink, it was a fresh and clean fava bean leaf, and here it was an dark, earthy, and spiced sage leaf. Another was the smoke-flavored glass; for the drink in April, Todd utilized a smoldering dried black loomi lime, and here it was cinnamon.
The smoke worked rather well here to fill the Hunter's nose, and unlike many smoked drinks, there was not an acrid burnt taste on the sip. Instead, the sip portrayed a very apple flavor that was complemented by the honey and citrus notes from the syrup. The honey continued on in the swallow where it mingled with the rum and whiskey elements. With the darker flavors, the apple and honey notes, and the smoke reminiscent of burning piles of leaves, the Hunter did indeed capture many of the elements I associate with Autumn.