as i lay dying

1 1/2 oz Cognac (Du Peyrat Selection)
3/4 oz Apple Brandy (Morin Calvados Selection)
3/4 oz Amaro Braulio
1/2 oz Apricot Liqueur (Rothman & Winter)
2 dash Peychaud's Bitters

Stir with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube.Two Fridays ago, I thought about the Cognac-apple brandy combination of the Corpse Reviver #1 that I had tinkered with in the Corpse Hand and Corpse Carré to gussy up the bitters-less Manhattan of sorts. My mind went to the Cognac-Braulio St. Bernard's Pass, and to bolster Braulio's herbal note, I considered how well apricot liqueur works with amari. Since Corpse Revivers were meant to be hangover cures, I named this one after drinker-author William Faulkner's book As I Lay Dying. In the glass, the As I Lay Dying proffered apple, Cognac, minty, and apricot aromas. Next, apple and caramel on the sip transitioned to Cognac, pine, and bitter stonefruit flavors on the swallow.