loneliest monk

1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Yellow Chartreuse
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1 barspoon Absinthe
1 dash Mushroom Tincture (*)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
(*) Might be shiitake. Recipe would work well even without this tincture.
After the Independent, I headed around the corner to Backbar where I got to sit at the bar of not a current but a previous Russell House Tavern co-worker, Kyle Powell. For a first drink, I asked Kyle for the Loneliest Monk, a drink of the day that I had spotted on Twitter three days before, and I assumed that the monk aspect refers to both the Chartreuse and the Benedictine liqueurs. Once mixed, the Loneliest Monk offered an apple and herbal aroma. A lemon and honey sip was followed by an apple and herbal swallow. Next, the swallow ended with anise, spice, and a lingering earthiness from the mushroom tincture. Overall, the cocktail came across like a citrussy Widow's Kiss with perhaps the balance of a Hoop La.