autumn leaves

3/4 oz Straight Rye (Old Overholt)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)
1/4 oz Strega
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange twist.

Two Thursdays ago, I was looking through Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide 75th anniversary edition and I spotted a familiar looking recipe called Autumn Leaves. Since Mr. Boston often has no attribution, I sought the assistance of Google and then realized why it was familiar -- it was one of Jeffrey Morgenthaler's drinks. Jeff wrote about this one for Mixology Monday "New Orleans" back in July 2008, the month before I submitted my first Mixology Monday post but when I was certainly reading all the entries. It was his riff on the Vieux Carré when he had a sparse home bar on hand. The original utilized cinnamon tincture that the book converted to Angostura Bitters; Fee's Whiskey Barrel Bitters would probably have been a better approximation here.
The Autumn Leaves offered an orange aroma over that of the whiskey. An apple and grape sip then gave way to the rye, the Laird's Bonded heat, and the Strega and bitters' spice.