decolletage

1 1/2 oz Reposado Tequila (Espolón)
1 oz Dubonnet Rouge
1/2 oz Aperol
1/4 oz Fernet Branca

Stir with ice and strain into an ice-filled snifter or double old fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

After getting home from Green Street, we decided to have a cocktail I had spotted in Gary Regan's Annual Manual for Bartenders 2011 for a nightcap. The drink was the Décolletage created by Chris Hannah of French 75 in New Orleans, and its Dubonnet, Fernet Branca, and orange flavors reminded me of a tequila-based Don't Give Up the Ship. I think Andrea (along with Gary Regan as well) was drawn to it for the drink's glorious French name.
The Décolletage presented an orange oil and Fernet Branca's menthol aroma. The sip paired Aperol's orange and rhubarb with Dubonnet's grape, and the swallow started with tequila and ended with a lingering Fernet Branca flavor. I was impressed at how subdued the tequila was in this drink, and perhaps the softening effects of Dubonnet and Aperol were to blame.