sinnerman swizzle

1 oz Bombay Dry Gin
1 oz Cocchi Sweet Vermouth
1/2 oz Suze Gentian Liqueur
1/2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Build in a Collins glass, fill with crush ice, and swizzle to mix and chill. Top with more crushed ice, garnish with mint sprigs and 5-6 dash Angostura Bitters, and add a straw.

While looking through the Death & Co. Cocktail Book and making the Park Life Swizzle, I thought about the power of their Swizzle recipe that Death & Co. alum Katie Emmerson paid tribute in her Company Swizzle at the Hawthorne. Moreover, it influenced Matt Schrage in making his Red Duster Swizzle at Brick & Mortar. One of the drinks and flavor combinations that I was still thinking about was Mike Fleming's Sinnerman at West Bridge; the simple combination of sweet vermouth, gentian liqueur, and allspice dram made for a rather good aperitif. I did find it a touch sweet and figured that some citrus would dry it out a little. Or if I added some citrus and made a Swizzle out of it...
So I went into work the next day and made a Swizzle variation of the drink. I had not made a gin drink up in a while so I reached for that, but whiskey or especially Scotch might work well here too (or rum if the citrus was switched to lime). For a name, I thought about riffing on the concept of the Sinnerman song by paying tribute to Nina Simone or other performers who helped to make the piece popular. Instead, I decided to pay honor to the original drink that I riffed off of. Once made, it shared a mint and allspice aroma. A lemon and grape sip led into an earthy, gin, and allspice swallow. Like the original, the combination had layers of flavors that revealed themselves as the ice in the drink melted over time.