south of sunset

1 1/2 oz Plymouth Gin (Tanqueray)
3/4 oz Aperol
3/4 oz Lustau East India Solera Sherry

Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with a lemon twist.
Two Saturdays ago, I wandered into my Food & Wine: Cocktails collection and extracted the 2016 edition. There, I spotted Los Angeles bartender Karen Grill's Negroni variation called the South of Sunset. What drew me to the combination was how it was reminiscent of Daniel Eun's Dewey D but with gin instead of whiskey and aromatic bitters. In the glass, the South of Sunset cast off lemon and orange aromas. Next, the sherry donated a gorgeous grape note that went along with a fruity one from the Aperol on the sip, and the swallow followed up with gin joined by bitter orange blending into grape on the swallow.