rock beats scissors

2 oz Old Overholt Rye
1/2 oz Cynar
1/2 oz Bigallet China-China Amer
2 dash Housemade Clove Bitters (*)

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.
(*) Perhaps sub a dash or two of Angostura Bitters, or a clove muddled in a dash of Angostura Bitters.
Two Mondays ago, Andrea and I ventured north to Woburn to have dinner at the Baldwin Bar in Sichuan Garden II. For a first drink, I asked Vannaluck Hongthong for the Rock Beats Scissors on the menu that he attributed to bar manager Ran Duan. Overall, the combination appeared like a vermouth-less cross of a Brooklyn with a Bensonhurst (a Cynar for Picon swap in a Brooklyn, with a recipe post here in around a week). Once built, it gave forth a malt aroma with dark orange and herbal accents. The malt continued on into the sip where it mingled with the Amer's caramel, and the swallow began with rye and dark herbal notes and ended with a funky clove finish.