letter to a younger self

3/4 oz Scotch (Cutty Sark Prohibition)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
3/4 oz Cocchi Americano or Lillet (Cocchi Americano)
1/2 oz Orange Liqueur (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
1/4 oz Fernet Branca

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

After spotting the recipe a couple weeks back for the Heather in Queue that Jackson Cannon created at Eastern Standard in 2008, the cocktail was still on my mind. The combination was a near classic one akin to the 1940s Don't Give Up the Ship, and I wanted to make my own take on it keeping the orange liqueur-Fernet Branca duo intact. Therefore, I switched the spirit from gin to a split of Scotch and apple brandy and swapped the blanc vermouth for Cocchi Americano. For a name, I dubbed this one Letter to a Younger Self as a nod to Jackson's infamous "Letter to a Young Bartender" that he penned for Tales of the Cocktail 2014.The Letter to a Younger Self greeted the senses with an orange, peat, and menthol bouquet. Next, apple and melon notes on the sip progressed into Scotch and apple-orange flavors on the swallow with a minty-menthol finish.