swagger

1 oz Gin (Tanqueray)
1/2 oz Dubonnet Rouge (Byrrh Quinquina)
1/2 oz Zucca Rabarbaro (Sfumato)
1/2 oz Grapefruit Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with a lime wedge (omit).
Two Wednesdays ago, I reached for the Canon Cocktail Book and spotted the Swagger that I had skipped over previously for lacking a Rabarbaro at home. With Sfumato in hand, I set to work, and the Swagger offered up the amaro's smoky, bitter herbal aromas to the nose. Next, grape and grapefruit were countered by a dark note from the Sfumato on the sip, and the swallow began with gin that led into a grape-softened smoky bitterness.