much ado about nothing

1 1/4 oz Jim Beam Black Bourbon
3/4 oz Averna
3/4 oz Lustau Amontillado Sherry
1/4 oz Benedictine

Stir with ice, strain into a glass, and garnish with a short sprig of rosemary.
After we closed up La Brasa on the earlier side two Tuesdays ago, there was still time to make it Backbar for a nightcap. There, I was presented with their new literary-themed cocktail menu, and I asked bartender Kat Lamper for the Much Ado About Nothing. This drink was subtitled "A marriage of flavors from Spain to Sicily," and the wedding theme was central to that Shakespearean play. The rosemary was listed in the ingredients list, but it factored in not as an infusion, syrup, or muddling, but as a very aromatic garnish; indeed, the Much Ado About Nothing greeted the nose with a rosemary bouquet over darker notes. Next, grape and caramel on the sip tied into Bourbon, nutty, and herbal flavors on the swallow.