quill

1 oz Gin (Tamworth Garden)
1 oz Campari
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (Cocchi)
1/4 oz Absinthe (Kübler)

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

I had spotted a reference to the Negroni variation called the Quill a few days prior, and two Fridays ago I decided to give this one a go after having read about it over the years. I tracked the recipe down to Serious Eats and Difford's Guide. The Quill appeared in the 1996 edition of Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails which contained 40 additional drinks not present in the books Harry MacElhone himself published. The recipe was credited to Frank C. Payne of New York who was a theatrical press agent in the 1920s and 30s. His union published a magazine by that name; this pedigree shares a bit of similarity to the Boulevardier that MacElhone included in Barflies and Cocktails attributed to Erskine Gwynne who printed a magazine in Paris called the Boulevardier during Prohibition.The Quill varies from a Negroni by containing absinthe and being served up, and this addition donated anise aromas over the orange oils from the twist. Next, a grape sip from the vermouth led into gin, bright herbal, and bitter orange flavors on the swallow with an anise and licorice finish.