monarch

1 oz Light Style Gin (Cold River)
1/2 oz Lillet Blanc (Cocchi Americano)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Aperol

Stir with ice and strain into a sherry glass. Garnish with a large lemon twist.
After the Brunswick, I searched through Gary Regan's Bartender's Gin Compendium and found an adaptation of Neyah White's Monarch that he created at Nopa in San Francisco. For a gin choice, I decided to try out my new bottle of Cold River Gin, a spirit made in Maine from potatoes, that I bought after finding it on sale. In the drink, the oils from the lemon twist combined with the Aperol to generate an almost apricot aroma. On the sip, the Cocchi Americano and Aperol provided a pleasing citrus and rhubarb flavor, and this led into the Benedictine and gin finishing with a chocolate and herbal swallow. While the Monarch was rather light, it was perhaps a touch too sweet to classify as a perfect aperitif. The ingredient that made the drink shine for me was the Benedictine which added a wealth of complexity that helped to unite the other elements.