the ticket that exploded

1/2 oz Mezcal (Fidencio)
1/2 oz Funky Jamaican Rum (Smith & Cross)
1 oz Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano (Cocchi Americano)
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Benedictine

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with an orange twist.

Two Tuesdays ago, I decided that I wanted to do a William S. Burroughs tribute cocktail, and I looked through his bibliography. There, I spotted The Ticket that Exploded -- one of his 1960s cut-up novels that was part of my first Burroughs literary experience: The Nova Trilogy. I then decided to craft a cut-up Negroni of sorts that was rough around the edges, and the end result was no longer a Negroni but something parallel. Burroughs' anti-utopian themes made me think of things funky and smoky so I opted for a split base of Jamaican rum and mezcal. To sooth over the rough edges, I split the Campari with Benedictine which was something that I had experienced in the Phoenix Feather. And finally for the aromatized wine element, I opted for Cocchi Americano to return some of the citrus notes lost in cutting back on the Campari.
The Ticket that Exploded controlled the nose with orange, smoke, and citrus aromas. Next, orange and peach notes subverted the sip, and the swallow exploded with vegetal agave, funky rum, bitter orange, herbal, and smoke flavors.