cover letter

1 1/4 oz Tuthilltown Half Moon Gin
1/2 oz Sotol
3/4 oz Lustau Amontillado
1/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur
1/4 oz Honey Syrup (2:1)
1 dash Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe glass. Twist an orange peel over the top.

Two Wednesdays ago, I stopped into Kirkland Tap and Trotter on the way home from work. In narrowing down my choices, I spoke to bartender Tyler Wang about the Cover Letter. He described how it had more industry-favored ingredients than the others on my short list. Tyler explained how he picked an apple and wheat-based gin to work better with the flavors. When I inquired about the specifics on Sotol, Tyler described how it was a different but somewhat related plant as the agaves used in tequila and mezcal, and how it still had a smokiness to it like mezcal. As for the cocktail name, the motley collection of "things that don't fit well together, but look cool together" was reminiscent of interviewing people for a job; hence, he called it the Cover Letter as a way to tie together such disparate aspects.
The Cover Letter filled the nose with lots of orange aromas with a hint of smoke. A light cherry and grape sip led into a nutty cherry swallow with gin and other herbal notes perhaps from the Sotol. Finally, the Cover Letter finished with cinnamon and smoke that grew on successive swallows.