pirate's alley

1 oz Scotch (Cutty Sark Prohibition)
1 oz Cognac (Pierre Ferrand 1840)
1/2 oz Walnut Liqueur (Russo Nocino)
1/2 oz Benedictine
3 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice, strain into an absinthe-rinsed (Kübler) double old fashioned glass, and garnish with lemon oil from a twist.Two Tuesdays ago was Mardi Gras, and I was inspired to make up a Sazerac riff to celebrate. I latched onto the walnut liqueur-Cynar duo that I recently had in the Level Up and was first introduced to in the My Triumphs, My Mistakes. However, in a Scotch-Cognac Sazerac format, the pair was not as lovely as I expected. Therefore, I took a page from Damon Boelte's Storm King and swapped out the Cynar for Benedictine (which also fit the New Orleans theme quite nicely). The result was much improved, and for a name, I dubbed this one after a block that intrigued me on my first trip to New Orleans in 2009 called Pirate's Alley. This second version possessed a lemon, anise, and herbal aroma. Next, a light caramel sip plundered into a smoky Scotch, rich Cognac, walnut, and herbal swallow with an anise and smoke finish.