No wine on hand. Made this with Cocchi Americano. Tempus Fugit brand creme de menthe. Thought I would have to up the mint liqueur, but it's plenty menthol. The sweetness of the Cocchi was balanced by its bitterness, so it wasn’t quite cloying. But I can see why unadulterated white wine would be preferable.

I'm on a tentative tour of drinks I could potentially make with my neglected Hamilton 151. My word, yes, this is potent. But good grief does it have an alarming harmony. Watch out! Am I crass in suggesting this might be more of service as a bartenders handshake type of shot?

I followed John's advice and backed off on the Campari a bit. I hate to say it, but dilution is important here, not to mention a smart choice in rum. Hamilton 151 seemed to just amplify and aggrandize the bitter components of the Campari. Some harsh distortion whoa

Read all the comments before making this. Only rums in house right now are Rhum J.M blanc 55% abv and Hamilton 151 False Idol version. Really made this to try the latter in it. I think I prefer rum in a Last Word (riff) to gin. Smith & Cross sounds like a spectacular fit.

I wouldn't reference a Boulevardier in this name of this drink. Inspirational reference yes of course. I made this with Cocchi Storico and Dad's Hat rye. That triumvirate combo is relatively approachable. I would recommend visiting the CH Distillery in Chicago to broaden your knowledge and palate as far as Malort goes. You'd be surprised what Malort pleasingly lends itself to. Helps to have a bitter-leaning palate. 4 stars.

I tried small samples of this with Wild Turkey 101 and Laphroaig 10 shortly after and the latter was surprisingly good as well. Cocchi Storico the vermouth in all.

I wouldn't reference a Boulevardier in this name of this drink. Inspirational reference yes of course. I made this with Cocchi Storico and Dad's Hat rye. That triumvirate combo is relatively approachable. I would recommend visiting the CH Distillery in Chicago to broaden your knowledge and palate as far as Malort goes. You'd be surprised what Malort pleasingly lends itself to. Helps to have a bitter-leaning palate. 4 stars.

Appleton 12, 3:1 amontillado to demerara syrup, Suze, rich cane simple with 5 drops Bob's vanilla bitters... not the prescribed ingredients, not ideal, but still pretty darn enjoyable. The recipe has some wiggle room.

I bumped up the Fernet equal to the syrup. Used Dad's Hat rye. I feel like it's perhaps a touch too sweet still, but I usually underdilute. Really damn tasty.

Interesting recipe. I used Dad’s Hat rye, Wild Turkey 101, Cocchi di Torino... the menthol is on fire. This could be the base for a dynamic julep, with a skosh of demerara syrup... Hmm....

I love the proportions of the Cocchi di Torino to the Fernet. But the gomme syrup and measure of absinthe seem superfluous, but does have latent effect. Do tweak this tipple.

Might seem silly to say, but this is a corny-tasting riff on a Jack Rose. I might warm up to it after tweaking the specs, but the balance is actually pretty stellar. I thought I wasn’t tasting the Fernet, but it does stealthily bloom in the aftertaste. Eh, I'll play with this.

A Little Italy this is not.

The Fernet has a surprisingly potent presence for the measure. Disclaimer: I did use Cynar and Dad’s Hat Rye, which is relatively robust for a rye.

A Little Italy this is not.

use gingerbeer instead soda water and put some lemon juice in it make this shit much better

I would agree it's great with ginger beer, but it takes over the drink. But I would say that it gives the ginger a more explosive taste and depth. I think you invented a drink there. Give it a name.

Gets better by leaps and bounds by the second sip. Only had Cocchi di Torino. A better overall flavor impact compared to a Fernet and Coke. Three sips in and I'm ready for another.

Noting the Eeyore's Requiem reference, yes, very similar. My notes on that drink state I used Luxardo Bitter Bianco, and enjoyed it. I had Cocchi Americano for this and I think I enjoyed it more. The result is surprising for its melange of ingredients. Fortunate measures.

Surprised I never made this before. Pretty good with Cimarron blanco, which is quite apparent, even against its dynamic co-conspirators. Has a phantom cacao note to it. Quite a nice sipper. An ideal and easy drink for you bitter buffs.

My notes from two years ago said there was too much pastis. Made this again today, cutting the pastis down to 5 ml and subbing the rich simple with homemade spearmint syrup... It tastes like a subtly mintier South Side. The pastis is mellow at first, slowly blooms sip over sip... It's alright, but I think I'd prefer and absinthe rinse to the pastis. What do you think?

Like the Canarie, I tried this twice. First time using Alton Brown's spearmint syrup recipe. Second time with 10 ml rich simple to one drop of peppermint essential oil. Math wiz drinkers will notice I tested this recipe at 2/3 measure. The spearmint syrup is more earthy in its expression. The oil syrup is like toothpaste. The grenadine is a bit lost, but tingling in the background. I did like the flavor pairings in this drink, but I prefer the ratio and lemon tinge in the Canarie. Curious how you'd compare the two drinks...

I made a lemon oleo for my syrup. Tried the drink twice with Ricard Pastis. First time around I found 2-3 shots (assuming 30 ml per) the sweet spot as far as toning down the dulce while maintaining the expressive character of the ingredients. 4 shots starts to thin the flavors, but it's still tasty. Second time, I decided to add a dash of Fee Bros Lemon Bitters to enhance that flavor and maybe tame some of the sweetness. Amazing but not surprising how potent that product is... Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable drink. I do love simple recipes.

I will make this again sticking to the specs. But I used what I had and it was hopefully complimentary to the above recipe... The only tweaks I made was 12.5 ml rich syrup and 2.5 ml celery bitters, then upped the pickle brine to 10 ml. Quite delightful and speaks to my leanings.

I can see the potential, but I feel like a commercial, spicy peppery brine is better than the otherwise tasty Ba Tampte Half Sour brine I had. Dewar’s (as suggested to me here) would also be more desirable than the malty pot still Irish whiskey I used. Not much honey presence. I will come back to this though...

Made the recipe to its most recent specs here and was bored with the result. One of my regular house ryes is Dad’s Hat Pennsylvania Rye, which is sedately spicy but has depth in malty and toasty barrel notes. Made it a second time using 45-20-15 specs with 2.5 ml of rich syrup. Not yet ideal, but still orangey. Gonna get surgical with this. 3/4 oz Strega might express best, but now I'm out of that, to my temporary relief.