harvest sling

1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Cherry Heering

Shake with ice, add 1 1/2 oz ginger beer (Reed's) to the shaker, and strain into a Collins glass with crushed ice. Garnish with half an orange wheel and two cherries on a pick (orange twist).
Two Wednesdays ago, I delved back into my Food & Wine: Cocktails collection and found an interesting Singapore Sling riff in the 2014 edition (although closer to the original than the more modern, fussy one). That recipe was the Harvest Sling of John Deragon at PDT in Manhattan, and the apple brandy and ginger beer direction seemed to fit the weather quite well. In the glass, the Harvest Sling greeted the nose with orange oil notes that preceded a carbonated cherry sip. Next, the swallow offered apple, more cherry, and herbal flavors with a ginger finish.