the time has come

1 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse 100)
1 1/2 oz Manzanilla Sherry (Lustau Fino)
3/4 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
3 dash Angostura Bitters
3 dash Peychaud's Bitters
1 pinch Salt

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail coupe, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist and a singe flower petal (tickseed petal aka Coreopsis californica which is non-toxic).

Two Tuesdays ago, Brian Maxwell put up his 100th daily recipe that he created and posted on his Shaker of Spirits blog throughout the pandemic quarantine. The name signified the end of this run for he was returning back to work, but it also formed a loop to his first drink if the series which was also a line from Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus and the Carpenter" poem. Five years ago, that poem was the theme for an event at Loyal Nine that was significant to me for it was my first event that I helped to run after getting promoted to lead bartender there. For that event, I crafted a six drink menu and I wrote up four of them: a Pegu Club-Jasmine-inspired Of Shoes and Ships, a Pimm's Cup riff No Birds to Fly, the West Indies Punch-influenced Shining on the Sea, and the Mexican Hurricane Hopping through the Frothy Waves.
The Time Has Come seemed like an amazing combination of American whiskey, sherry, and four types of bitters that were softened by a pinch of salt, and my hunch proved correct in the glass. It began with a lemon, rye, and tangerine bouquet on the nose. Next, a caramel and crisp sip led into rye, mandarine, and gentian flavors on the swallow; as the cocktail warmed up, it became more Fernet driven but in an earthy bitter way instead of a more minty-menthol one.