growing old and dying happy is a hope, not an inevitability

2 oz Cynar
1 oz Rittenhouse Rye
1 pinch Salt
Oil from 5 Lemon Swaths

Stir with ice and strain into a coupe pre-rinsed with absinthe (Pernod Absinthe). Garnish with a lemon twist.

Two Fridays ago, I reached for the 'zine-style cocktail book that came after the 2009 Rogue Cocktails got discontinued due to legal actions from Rogue Ales & Spirits and the 2011 Beta Cocktails came out. This photoless photocopied and stapled collection called Rogue Cocktails printed in 2010 had many of the original recipes plus 5 or so new recipes. Many of those new recipes made it into Beta Cocktails, but one entitled Growing Old and Dying Happy is a Hope, Not an Inevitability never did; actually, a similar drink appeared in Beta Cocktails called the Italian Heirloom with the whiskey being a half ounce each of blended Scotch and Laphroaig instead of the full ounce of bonded rye here. I remember asking Maks Pazuniak at Tales of the Cocktail in 2010 whether the new book had come out yet, and instead he handed me the 'zine and said soon; moreover, this drink was one of his creations. I was drawn to it for it appeared like a proof-ier adaptation of the Little Giuseppe.
The Growing Old began with anise from the absinthe mingling with the fresh lemon oil on the nose. Next, the Cynar's caramel paired well with the rye's malt on the sip, and the swallow offered minty herbal and rye flavors with an anise-herbal finish. Indeed, the salt mollified the funky vegetal bitterness of the Cynar and brought out lighter herbal notes from the amaro as it has in many drinks including the Aguamiel.