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I enjoyed this drink. I cut the calvados with a little bit of apple-flavoured brandy to give the drink a little more body, as I find calvados is not as bold as other spirits.

If you can get a bottle, Laird's Bottled-in-Bond apple brandy is pretty wonderful in this. I did also have limited lemon and utilized a 2:1 lime-to-lemon. So there it is. Pretty beautiful, if marginally, mentally too candy-sweet. One of the more flavorful, intense drinks I've tried in recent memory. Even with these ingredients, the Sidecar nod is mad apparent. (17 May 2023, 2:09p)

I love the addition of Elderflower here, but I'm not as fond of the Calvados replacement for the cognac. The fruitiness of this particular cocktail will appeal to many, but I prefer a sidecar/carriage with a stronger base structure.

Granted I'm comparing apples to oranges here but I found this much more appealing than the IBA specs 5 2 2 Sidecar.