smoke & mirrors

1 1/2 oz Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
1/2 oz Oloroso Sherry
1/2 oz Rothman & Winter Apricot Liqueur
1/2 oz Punt e Mes
2 dash Bitter Truth's Jerry Thomas Decanter Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into a rocks glass.
Two Thursdays ago, I ventured over to the Citizen Public House after work. For a first drink, I asked bartender Mary Stout for the Smoke & Mirrors which recently appeared on their cocktail menu. Mary commented that she thought the drink tasted like caramelized apricots. Once prepared, it offered an apricot and grape aroma with hints of smoke. The grape continued on into the sip along with vague orchard fruit notes, and the swallow shared smoky agave, apricot, and bitter nutty grape flavors. Indeed, the oxidized sherry and apricot liqueur paired rather well together as they have in the past in drinks like the Daley Fix and the Muckraker Punch.