Adding a bit of Champagne can do wonders for so many things in life🥂!

Plantation 3-Star is my go-to rum, too. My favorite ratio is 12:6:1, the sugar being replaced by agave syrup, which is Mexican, I know, but it surely works with limes in Margaritas, so it’s a natural, in my opinion. We like them (both Margs and Daqs) sour, so sweeten to taste, but 3-Star is great!

Terrific! Both the cocktail and the Joplin!

This recipe is very similar to the one for the “Tale of Two Roberts” cocktail credited to Frank Caiafa of the Waldof-Astoria by Philip Greene in his excellent 2016 book *The Manhattan (The Story of the First Modern Cocktail)* [Sterling Publishing, 2016]:
2 oz Scotch
1 oz sweet vermouth
1/4 oz Bénédictine
2 dashes absinthe
Stir with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, lemon peel garnish.
It’s one of my very favorite libations (although I substitute 1 tsp Pernod for the absinth)