John, Chris - I used Salers, Cocchi Americano, Pierre Ferrand Ambre, and Bombay Sapphire... Salers is not usually my preference over Suze (not in stock at home), but I found it worked well enough with the other elements. Tasty, but the Salers is prominent... Lillet would clearly make a large difference, and I wish I still had my bottle on hand... Chris, the Cognac is easily the most noticeable difference maker in the mix... Some tweaks yet to be made. Gentian (not helped by the Cocchi) does not need to be so dominant here.

Lots of room to experiment, but the split base with cognac is the distinctive feature here. The interplay between the cognac, the herbal character of the gin, and the bitter ingredients can be overwhelmed by too much of the latter, though. After trying a couple proportions and aromatized ingredients I got a good balance of complementary flavors using equal amounts (3/4 oz each) of gin, a fairly fruity cognac, Bonal Gentiane-Quina, and Cocchi Americano Bianco. Salers has a flavor I didn't care for in this drink; haven't tried it with Suze.