smoke & mirrors

1 1/4 oz Aquavit (Aalborg)
1 1/4 oz Campari
3/4 oz Cynar

Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Tuesdays ago, I was perusing Kindred Cocktails section of aquavit drinks when I spotted the Smoke & Mirrors that it had sourced from the Drink Boy site. The recipe was created by Neil Kopplin at Clyde Commons in Portland in 2009 as a riff on the Trident. Indeed, the combination of Campari and Cynar has been interesting in the Bookbinder, Pinball Racket, and Uncle Negroni, so I was curious to give this one a whirl. In the glass, it met the nose with orange, caramel, and caraway aromas. Next, caramel and orange notes mingled on the sip, and the swallow wrapped things up with caraway and herbal bitter orange flavors.