heat of the moment

1 1/2 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1/2 oz Zucca Rabarbaro Amaro
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/2 oz Demerara Syrup
4 Mint Leaves

Muddle mint in syrup and liqueurs in a double old fashioned glass. Remove mint, add rye, and stir to mix. Fill with crushed ice, garnish with mint sprigs, and add straws.
For Loyal Nine's Yacht Rock Sundays, I wanted to create a Julep. I was thinking whiskey as the base spirit, but since I already had the Bourbon-based Hungry Like the Wolf as a best or second-best seller each week still on the list, I contemplated rye. Immediately, I thought of the quote from Harwell's The Mint Julep where Kentucky humorist Irvin S. Cobb declared, "Any guy who'd put rye in a mint julep and crush the leaves would put scorpions in a baby's bed." With rum and brandy already accounted for and Scotch feeling wrong, I had no choice but to risk crib-death across town. My other thought here was to complement the mint aspect with amaros. I recalled how well Zucca paired with mint notes in the Zucca Hour, and I figured I could counter its lower notes with brighter, more citrussy ones from Amaro Montenegro. My first pass had no simple syrup, but it came across as too intense; therefore, I toned down the flavor profile and brought forward the whiskey by utilizing some demerara syrup.