devil's staircase

1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Mezcal (Del Maguey Vida)
3/4 oz Averna
1/4 oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1 dash Angostura Bitters
1 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass.After writing up the Crooklyn from the Franklin Mortgage & Investment Co. and noting that it was rather similar to Cure's Black & Bluegrass, I decided to put my own spin on the 3:1 Averna to curaçao with Angostura and Peychaud's Bitters Black Manhattan template. Here, I utilized an apple brandy and mezcal split, and I dubbed it the Devil's Staircase after an IPA on tap at Widowmaker Brewing when I went there last October. Once prepared, it donated an apple, caramel, herbal, and smoke aroma to the nose. Next, caramel and a lightly orange sip descended into apple, smoky vegetal, and orange flavors on the swallow with clove, smoke, and anise notes on the finish.