the count rides again

3/4 oz Funky White Overproof Rum (Privateer Tres Aromatique) (*)
1/4 oz Demerara 151 Proof Rum (Lemon Hart 151)
1 oz Campari
1/2 oz Don's Mix (BG Reynolds) (**)
1/2 oz Falernum (Velvet)
1 bsp Grenadine
1 dash Angostura Bitters
6 drop Absinthe (St. George)

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist (an orange twist would work well here too).
(*) A Jamaican rum like Wray & Nephew or perhaps even rhum agricole or Batavia Arrack would well work here.
(**) Two parts grapefruit juice to one part cinnamon syrup; BG Reynolds syrup is a bit sweeter than the freshly made combination.

On Easter Sunday, I was contemplating all of the drinks that get utilized for Easter including the Corpse Reviver, Rusty Nail, and the Zombie. My mind began to play with the 1934 Zombie recipe, and I wondered if I could make a hybrid drink with a Rum Negroni. I began to parse the Zombie into three aspects: the rums, the crisp lime, and the modifiers. What if I were to remove the lime and replace it with Campari, and make each component around a third of the drink's build? For a name, I thought about how Count Camillo Negroni was a cowboy in America before he returned to Italy to create the gin legend, and perhaps an undead Count Negroni could return on horseback; therefore, I dubbed this one The Count Rides Again. It is neither Zombie nor Negroni, but a monster composed of parts of each of them. Indeed, the Don's Mix, falernum, grenadine, bitters, and absinthe combination of the Zombie has many of the fruity, spiced, and herbal qualities found in the Negroni's sweet vermouth.
The twist and the Don's Mix seemed to dominate the drink's aroma with grapefruit and cinnamon notes. Next, a rich and citrussy sip led into funky rum, bitter orange, and cinnamon on the swallow in a rather complex combination akin to the layers of flavor in the classic Zombie. Given the bold notes here and reduced volumes of the the rums relative the Zombie, utilizing robustly flavored and overproof rums will help them from getting lost in the shuffle.