I recently had this cocktail at a restaurant near my office. Yeah, it was happy hour so I thought, “What the heck?”  Well, I liked it a lot even though this establishment made every effort to ensure I would never return! Anyway, I thought I could tweak this beauty a wee bit and share it with you. This cocktail, created by New York’s Sam Ross (of Penicillin fame), uses equal parts of 4 ingredients (Bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice) to produce a beautiful and delicious drink. Given that one of the essential ingredients is difficult to get in my area (Amaro Nonino), I am going to make a substitution and an addition to compensate. The result is an interesting interpretation which I think is a wonderful homage to the original – creator and creation.

Oh… and always use a fresh lime for the garnish.  That pathetic, petrified lime wheel floating in my glass was beyond off putting, Earl.

Chill a cocktail glass. Add the bourbon, Aperol, amaro, lime and lemon juice into a shaker. Add ice and shake for 30 seconds to thoroughly combine and chill. Add the absinthe to the chilled glass and swirl to coat the inside evenly, tossing out the extra. Strain the cocktail into the chilled and absinthe rinsed glass. Add the lemon and lime twist as a garnish.

Enjoy!