machine gun etiquette

3/4 oz Scotch (Cutty Sark Prohibition)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
3/4 oz Fino Sherry (Lustau)
3/4 oz Cynar
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe or double old fashioned glass pre-rinsed with apricot liqueur (Combier), and garnish with an orange twist. Leaving some of the excess rinse in the glass would do no harm here.

On my walk home from work two Saturdays ago, I was enjoying the Autumn evening and thought about the Fall-inspired combination of Scotch and apple brandy. I then considered how well each pair with Cynar, and the Cynar made me think of the pairing with apricot liqueur in the Enjoy the Silence and other drinks like the One One Thousand. The Cynar also made me think of the Remember the Alimony, and the idea quickly came together. Finally, I added a dash of Peychaud's upon straw tasting the combination since it needed a little extra depth.
For a name, I dubbed this one the Machine Gun Etiquette after a song by The Damned perhaps due to the smoky element or as an alternative to alimony payments. Once prepared, this drink aimed orange, apricot, and peat smoke aromas at the nose. Next, caramel and malt on the sip shot into Scotch, apple, and herbal flavors on the swallow with a crisp apricot and anise finish. Overall, the stronger flavors of Scotch and apple brandy as compared to gin shifted the Remember the Alimony's balance in a new direction.