how do i compare

3/4 oz Bourbon (Four Roses Yellow Label)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/4 oz Cointreau
2 dash Apple Bitters (1 dash Bittermens Burlesque + 1 dash Regan's Orange)

Build in a glass, stir to mix without ice, and garnish with orange oil from a twist. Note: This is a room temperature cocktail.

After my work shift two Thursdays ago, I ventured into Sother Teague's I'm Just Here for the Drinks book where I spotted his How Do I Compare recipe. The drink is a room temperature "cocktail" called a Scaffa that fails to be cocktail for it lacks the water component in the 1806 formula of spirit, sugar, bitters, and water. Classic Scaffas such as Frank Meier's 1934 Rum Scaffa frequently called for Benedictine, and I have found orange liqueurs to work well too such as in the Orange Scaffa. Here, the How Do I Compare utilizes both, and the name is in reference to comparing apples to oranges or apple brandy plus bitters and Cointreau, respectively. To round out the mix, Sother split the base spirit with Bourbon, and to answer the naming question, he responded, "How do I compare apples to oranges? I don't. I just drink them."
In the glass, the orange element greeted the senses through the orange oil from a twist. Next, apple and the whiskey's malt filled the sip, and Bourbon and apple flavors were joined by orange-herbal notes on the swallow.