Is it a Last Word riff? That's a question for someone smarter to answer. The maraschino is forward (as it so often is) which, with the Aperol and vermouth, makes it almost taste of chili sans the spiciness. Not complaining, it's certainly serviceable, but it left me thinking if it wouldn't be better with some dashes of Hellfire Shrub...

Actually, with some time and dilution, it evolved to a proper drink even with Redbreast 12. The wood evolved to elevate the ginger, and the lime just did its thing. At this point I don't think I would've wanted it with any other whiskey. It's good, it's noticeable and it doesn't dissipate.

I guess it depends a lot on your whiskey. I used Redbreast 12 and the wood came through surprisingly much. Not the vanilla shortbread necessarily, more like the actual wood fibres. It was a nice drink overall, just not that nice with a too aged whiskey.

The initial mouthfeel is incredibly thick, like syrup, but it's surprisingly not that sweet. The bitterness and the rum counteracts the amount of sugar that I'm sure must be in there. I actually really like the flavour though. The chocolate, rose and cherry are obviously there but there's enough complexity to want you to sip more. Maybe dial the Heering back a bit in favor of the rum if you want to reduce the sweetness but to me it's balanced as is.