perverted by language

1 1/2 oz Dry Gin (Brooklyn Gin)
1/2 oz Sloe Gin (Plymouth)
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth (Alessio)
1/2 oz Cynar

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe rinsed with absinthe (St. George), and garnish with a lemon twist; or strain into a rocks glass rinsed with absinthe, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist.
In thinking about the variety of sloe gin and other related plum gins on our shelves at Our Fathers, I recalled the great combination of sloe gin and Cynar that appears in Phil Ward's Lipspin and Colin Shearn's Transatlantic Giant. Using that duo as a base and adding gin to the mix, my initial idea of dry vermouth was wrong for the fruitier notes of sweet vermouth rounded out this combination rather well. And for added herbal complexity and aromatics, I opted for an absinthe rinse. Originally, I was thinking of doing it Sazerac style in a rocks glass, but I prefer the look and feel of our coupes over our double old fashioned glasses at work. For a name, Andrea suggested a reference to the indie rock band The Fall as Mark E. Smith had just passed away this week, and I dubbed this one after their 1983 album Perverted by Language.