forefather

1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
1 oz Roger Groult Reserve Calvados (Morin Selection)
1/2 oz Grand Marnier (Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
1/2 oz Benedictine
2 dash Bittermens Mole Bitters (*)

Stir with ice, strain into an old fashioned glass with a large ice cube, and garnish with a lemon oil from a twist.
(*) See text, but the drink was originally created with Bittermens Tiki Bitters.Two Saturdays, I decided to make another recipe that I had spotted on the Death & Co. marketplace site called the Forefather. The recipe was created by bartender Evan Flynn at their Denver outpost in 2023, and he was helped by his bar manager Scott Keys to create this after dinner drink for the menu. It read like a Honeymoon Cocktail with a split apple brandy base but without the lemon juice so I was sold. After I posted the drink on Instagram, Evan chimed in with, "Hey thanks for making this one! It's a real special one for me. If you try it again, try substituting Bittermens Tiki Bitters for the mole bitters. Scott and I originally wrote the drink with those bitters but the menu this drink was on already had too many drinks with tiki bitters so we ended up moving to mole bitters. Let me know which one you end up enjoying!" I did not have a chance to remake the drink with tiki bitters (I lately sub in Bittercube's Corazon since I lack the Bittermens product), but with mole bitters, the Forefather began with lemon, apple, and orange aromas. Next, a vaguely fruity sip opened up into apple, herbal, orange, and chocolate flavors on the swallow.