dead man's alley

1 1/2 oz Rye Whiskey (Rittenhouse)
1/2 oz Mezcal (Banhez)
1/2 oz Amaro Braulio
1/2 oz Amaro Sfumato
1/8 oz Maple Syrup

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with ice, and garnish with an orange twist.Two Fridays ago, I was inspired by a local drink I spotted with rye, Braulio, maple syrup, and walnut bitters to tinker. The Amaro Daiquiri made me think of the Braulio-Sfumato combination, and I split the rye 3:1 with mezcal that has worked in Ted Kilgore's Devil's Soul and in many Death & Co. drinks like the Hunt & Peck and that I have used before in cocktails like Death on the Installment Plan. I named this Black Manhattan with a touch of maple after a sketchy alley in 19th century San Francisco mentioned in Herbert Asbury's The Barbary Coast book. Once assembled, the Dead Man's Alley crept to the nose with an orange, caramel, maple, and roast aroma. Next, caramel and maple notes swirled on the sip, and the swallow ended things with rye, vegetal, herbal, pine, roast, and smoke flavors.