[mansion in the sky]

1 1/2 oz Diabolique Bourbon
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur
1/4 oz Velvet Falernum
1/4 oz Kümmel
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a snifter glass.
Two Mondays ago, I was planning on staying in, but eventually I needed to get out of the house. Therefore, I opened up the OnTheBar app and spotted that Sahil Mehta was working at Estragon. Of course, Sahil works most Mondays, but I had lost focus on what night it was and the app surely helped out. For a drink, Sahil mentioned that he had created something for a customer who wanted a riff on the house cocktail the Delta Dawn. The Delta Dawn combines Bourbon, a peach-ginger shrub, orgeat, lemon juice, and Angostura Bitters. Changing the shrub for apricot liqueur and the orgeat for falernum and kümmel, the next generation of drink was created, but it still lacked a name by the time it reached my glass. Delta Dawn is the name of a song written by child rockabilly star Larry Collins and songwriter Alex Harvey around 1971. I dubbed the drink the Mansion in the Sky after a line from the first verse:

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you have on
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say he was a-meeting you here today
To take you to his mansion in the sky?

Once presented to me, the cocktail offered an apricot and kümmel spice that came across as perfume-like with cherry-peach notes. Lemon on the sip joined a fruity note from the apricot, and as things warmed up over time, the cherry-like flavors began to appear on the sip as well. In retrospect, the cherry notes might be due to the Black Mission figs in the Diabolique Bourbon infusion (Estragon has a cordial license and cannot carry Bourbon proper). Next, the swallow showcased the whiskey followed by spiced apricot flavors.