painted lady

1 oz Gin (Beefeater)
1 oz Aged Apple Brandy (Laird's Bonded)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Cynar
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into an absinthe-rinsed (Kübler) rocks glass.Two Saturdays ago, I became inspired by Maks Pazuniak's 100 Year Old Cigar and took the rum-Scotch combination in a gin-applejack direction by way of the Pink Lady. It seemed that Peychaud's Bitters would round out the combination better than Angostura, and I dubbed this one the Painted Lady as perhaps a nod to the Women of the Wild West night I did back with Katie Emmerson at the Blue Room a decade ago last month. The Painted Lady led off with an anise aroma from the absinthe rinse. Next, apple and caramel notes on the sip danced into pine, apple, herbal, and caramel flavors on the swallow with an anise finish. A few folks made it after I posted it on Instagram, and one declared "A fantastic beverage. Made it this evening. The makings of a modern classic."