libretto

1 1/2 oz Siete Leguas Añejo Tequila
3/4 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz St. Germain
1/2 oz Cynar
2 dash Mole Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.

For my second drink at Craigie on Main, bartender John Mayer proposed a drink that he had made for Christine of DudeKicker. Since she is a librarian, he called it the Libretto before he later realized that he had chosen the wrong Italian word. When I heard that the drink contained both St. Germain and Cynar, I instantly thought of the Scotch and dry vermouth-based Alto Cucina. Not only did John not know of that drink so as to be influenced by the recipe, the interplay of the two liqueurs ended up being rather different.
The Libretto met my senses with a tequila aroma over darker herbal notes from the Cynar. The sip showcased the vermouth's grape and the St. Germain's pear-like flavor; this was one of the few drinks where the floral aspect of St. Germain was less prevalent in the mix. The swallow mimicked the nose with tequila and Cynar notes, and this led into chocolate flavors at the end along with a lingering Cynar aspect. The sweetness from the liqueurs and vermouth rescued the balance from being harsh as things warmed up. In comparison to the Alto Cucina, the Libretto had less clear interplay between between the two liqueurs perhaps due to the Carpano Antica dampening the flavors.