mr. monahan's flip

2 oz Laird's 7 1/2 Year Apple Brandy
1 oz Madeira
1 oz Pumpkin Purée Spiced Syrup (*)
1 Whole Egg

Shake once without ice and once with. Strain into a wineglass and garnish the froth with Fee's Aromatic Bitters.
(*) While I did not get a precise recipe for this ingredient, perhaps a half ounce (1 Tbsp) of canned pumpkin purée and a half ounce of an allspice, cinnamon, and clove simple syrup would work.

Last Wednesday, Andrea and I went to Trina's Starlite Lounge for dinner. While the bar was full and we sat at a table in the dining area, we did have a chance to speak with bartender and co-owner Beau Sturm as he came by our table during dinner to talk about the drinks he was making for us. The drink I started the evening with was one I remember reading about last year in the Improper Bostonian. The Mr. Monahan's Flip was created by Beau in honor of then Eastern Standard (now Highland Kitchen) bartender Jimmy Lane's recent nuptials. Unlike our dubbing a drink the Jimmy Lane Swizzle, Beau gave Jimmy a little jab by naming the drink after Jimmy's bride, Riley Monahan, who works at Trina's Starlite Lounge. Jimmy apparently took the joke well, and perhaps things were smoothed over once he tasted the delight. The recipe was based upon the classic Madeira-laden Boston Flip with the whiskey swapped for aged apple brandy and with the addition of spiced pumpkin syrup instead of sugar.
The Mr. Monohan's Flip's pumpkin notes greeted my nose along with the bitters garnish's cinnamon. On the sip, the pumpkin worked well with the apple brandy flavors, and the more vegetal aspects of the pumpkin came through on the swallow along with the Madeira notes. With successive swallows, the spices from the syrup began to appear and the ones I could easily identify were clove, cinnamon, and allspice (I would not be surprised if nutmeg or other spices were in there too).