comings and goings

1 1/2 oz Rhum Agricole Blanc (Rhum Clement Premiere Canne)
3/4 oz Fino Sherry (Lustau)
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
1/4 oz Strega
1 dash Angostura Bitters

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

Two Saturdays ago, I thought about my Mount Pelee that was inspired by John Gertsen's Rhum Agricot and Martin Cate's Abricot Vieux and wondered how I could riff on it. Originally, my mind went to Campari that worked well with apricot in the Intercept, but then I recalled the apricot-Strega duo that succeeded in the Fallen Angel a week prior. I kept the Fino sherry instead of dry vermouth idea from the Campari drink that I had sketched out, and I complemented the Strega with aromatic bitters.
For a name, I dubbed this one the Comings and Goings after an 1887 painting by Paul Gauguin that he did on the island of Martinique. In the glass, the Comings and Goings donated an orange, apricot, and grassy funk aroma to the nose. Next, orchard fruit on the sip slid into grassy, apricot, minty pine, vanilla, and allspice flavors on the swallow.