Looking at Discerning Drinker comments and ratings, I decided this was a cocktail I needed to revisit, and I've amended the recipe above. To put the comments below into context, the previous recipe was: 25ml bottled-in-bond straight rye whiskey, 25ml straight bourbon, 25 rosso vermouth, 10ml cherry liqueur, and 2 dashes absinthe.

A classic. Personally I think the Cherry serves great to make the cocktail something different than something like a Manhattan or La Louisiane. I used both Bulleit bourbon and Bulleit rye which, I think, helped counteract the sweetness with its pepperiness and spiciness. I can imagine something like Buffalo Trace being too sweet.

Not a fan. For my palate there’s no getting around the cloying, hard-candy flavor imparted by the cherry liqueur.

I gave it 4 stars - could be a 4.5 or 5 with less cherry heering, and/or possibly 100 proof whiskeys (I used Buffalo Trace and Sazerac). but I guess I'm just not a fan of the cherry liqueurs

Tried this a few times, waiting to be impressed but it never landed... until the change of glass. Sorry Simon but this sings in a coupe. Think de la Loiusiane, forget sazerac.

Hate to plug another website's recipe for a drink here, but the Imbibe version was more to my expectations of the drink: 60 ml rye, 22.5 ml rosso, 10 ml Cherry Heering, and I sprayed the glass with absinthe... I did try the above recipe though, first as written, next all rye, and I did prefer the former, fyi... Rittenhouse, Wild Turkey 101, Cocchi di Torino (my liege).

First ½ tried a pure rye version of this cocktail and it was very good. Next time I will try the split version. Iused: 2 teaspoon absinthe, 2 ounces rye whiskey, ¾ ounce sweet vermouth, 2 teaspoons Heering cherry liqueur; Garnish: brandied cherry

Came together beautifully