Justin Aniello

A fernet drink where it gets to show through but not overpowering is rare indeed and this one succeeds. Light sweetness from the syrup, just barely tasting the maple itself. Both work extremely well with the cognac.

Very nice, used Fugit which added that great brown sugar and over ripe banana as background to the Campari. The vermouth gives a fruity kick to the end. Agree with Caspian that the tequila isn't quite competing with everything else, may try with reposado next time to see how that holds up.

Think I need to use a subtler bourbon because although I can just barely get the benedictine, everything mostly gets washed out by the bourbon. Which is unfortunate because I love chocolate bitters.

Lovely on the tip of the tongue; sweet rye, lightly minty, herbal. Unfortunately the fernet overpowers everything after that. If it kept the nice balance at the beginning it would be perfect but unfortunately misses the mark.

Including an ice cube for more dilution, per Simon's review, does help. The explicit call out of no ice in the instructions is a mistake in my opinion.