nearly headless nickroni

1 1/2 oz Sagamore Rye
1/2 oz Campari
1/2 oz Dolin Blanc Vermouth
1/2 oz Amaro Montenegro

Stir with ice, strain into a double old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with orange oil from a twist.

Two Thursdays ago, I ventured to Backbar for their Harry Potter Week menu. There, I found a seat in front of bartender Alexis Vazquez and asked him for the Nearly Headless Nickroni. While the name reminded me of the layered Knickroni, it was actually a Boulevardier tribute created by Sam Treadway to a wizard, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, who gained the name Nearly Headless Nick after a failed execution via decapitation. The drink's combination of Campari and Amaro Montenegro reminded me of Paul Manzelli's Monte Cassino and Montenegroni at Bergamot though.The menu item was subtitled, ""Slow sipping and bitter sweet, just like our old pal Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington." I wonder if the "old pal" part was a reference to the Boulevardier riff the Old Pal containing rye whiskey, dry vermouth, and Campari. Interestingly, when Backbar ran this drink last year, it was a Scotch-based one according to their Instagram post in 2021. In the glass, the Nearly Headless Nickroni proffered an orange oil aroma. Next, a caramel orange sip cast its way into rye, bitter orange, and clementine flavors on the swallow.