sweet and vicious

2 oz Rye (Sazerac 6 Year)
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth (Noilly Prat)
1/2 oz Amaro Nonino (Averna)
1 tsp Maple Syrup
2 slice Fuji Apple (1/6 medium apple)

Lightly muddle the apple slices. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir with ice. Double strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a thin slice of apple.

Two Sundays ago, we started the evening with Alex Day's Sweet & Vicious that I found in the Big Bartender's Book. While the book provided no history, my investigations seem to indicate that he created it for Allen & Delancey in Manhattan where Alex was the chief mixologist for a while. Moreover, the rye, amaro, and apple components reminded me a bit of Sam Treadway's Keep the Doctor Away that he based off of Hungry Mother's No. 47.
The Sweet & Vicious offered up an apple and rye aroma. The sip presented the amaro's caramel, the rye's malt, and a hint of the apple's fruitiness. Next, the swallow showed the rye's heat, the maple's richness, and the amaro's bitter complexity.