songs my mother taught me

1 1/4 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
3/4 oz Cardamaro
3/4 oz Amaro Montenegro
1/4 oz Fernet Branca
2 dash Mole Bitters (Bittermens)

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

Two Fridays ago, I became inspired by the Cardamaro-Amaro Montenegro combination in the Khartoum. The Amaro Montenegro then got me thinking about the combination with mezcal called the M&M, and I mashed up the three ingredients; however, the end result felt flat even after I tinkered by adding absinthe and bitters. In the end, mezcal was not bringing the same structure as Smith & Cross Rum did in the Brick & Mortar classic. I continued tinkering with it at work a day later and took a page from the Scarecrow playbook and added in a 1/4 oz of Fernet Branca which donated that needed depth of flavor.Since the Khartoum was named after the race horse in The Godfather movie, I honed in on actor Marlon Brando and named this the Songs My Mother Taught Me after his autobiography. In the glass, it broadcasted smoke and vegetal aroma brightened by orange oil. Next, grape and caramel on the sip leapt into smoky mezcal and orange-menthol flavors on the swallow.