Erik Taylor

Tried adding an oz of Rittenhouse Rye to this and it cut through the sweetness very nicely. Ended up with a sort of Manhattan variation

On your recommendation I added 1 oz of Old Granddad 114 and it did not disappoint. I’m trying to imagine the drink without it. I think it would be a touch too sweet.

I agree with the suggestion to use maple syrup. I reduced it to 1/4 oz, with Old Grand-dad 114 proof bourbon, 1/2 oz Cynar, & 1/4 oz Campari. Angustura cocoa bitters and orange zest since chocolate & orange are a match made in heaven.
Now my wife is going to want one of these every night!

I tried this tonight. Excellent balance. I like my drinks a touch more bitter so the addition of the Campari I think is genius. I might play with using an Averna or another amaro to see where it leads.

I like it. I didn’t have Averna so I used d’ell et an instead.. I might try swapping the ratio off allspice dram to amaro to have a slightly sweeter more winter spice forward cocktail.

Delicious.

I subbed Rye for bourbon and Woodford barrel aged aromatic bitters because that’s what I had.

I can agree with the previous commenters that the drink is sweet in the beginning, although as the ice melts and it gets more diluted it gets more bitter. To me it's a very interesting cocktail that begins apricot heavy but gets more Angostura forward as time goes on. It's not something you drink in one go but rather sip over the course of an hour. Not sure if you'd notice replacing the applejack with the rye and leaving in the excess Campari though.

This was my impression as well. I prefer bitter leaning cocktails and I found myself enjoying it more as it diluted a bit from the ice melting.

I don't currently have Sfumato at home. I do have dell'Etna and Cynar. How much of a difference would it make to use either of those amaros and which would you recommend? Second question, how much am I missing out in general by not having Sfumato?