mi-5

3/4 oz Plymouth Gin (GrandTen Wireworks)
3/4 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth (Maurin)
3/4 oz Cynar

Stir with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.

Two Mondays ago, I was in the midst of reading Matt Teacher's The Spirit of Gin book, and I took note when I spotted the MI-5 created at the now defunct Gin Palace in Manhattan. The Gin Palace named its drinks after all things London and British, and the MI-5 is the British government's counter-intelligence agency. What lured me in was how it reminded me of a split spirits Little Italy with the two bases being the gin and apple brandy found in a Pink Lady. Moreover, the apple brandy, vermouth, and Cynar combination made me think of the Nassau Street Cocktail.
In the glass, the MI-5 encircled the nose with an apple and funky herbal bouquet. Next, grape and Cynar's caramel filled the sip, and the swallow began with juniper and Cynar's herbal flavors and ended with apple and mint-like notes. The barrel aging of the apple brandy and the grain base of the gin in the end did not equate to the feel of whiskey in the Little Italy, but the MI-5 was still a delight to drink.