This was good, though, to my palate, the cocktail tastes a bit flat with two dashes of the mole bitters. One dash works better for me. Still, I prefer my usual mezcal negroni--equal parts Del Maguey Chichicapa, Bruto Americano, and Antica Formula, with an orange peel garnish.

Mmmmm… delicious! I subbed Cocchi di Torino for the Punt e Mes, which gave a bit of complexity, and added 1/4oz Ancho Reyes. The result felt like pleasing pipe smoke. This may be my new favorite rainy day drink.

True to its name, this Negroni variant leans into the smoky/earthy character of both Sfumato Rabarbaro and mezcal. I thought it would be unbalanced paired with the bitterness of the Punt e Mes (and relatively small quantity of the latter compared to a sweet vermouth.) However, I was mistaken, it does work, very much in the same way a classic Negroni works, but with the smoky rhubarb bitter replacing the almost grapefruit like gentian bitterness of Campari. The lemon twist provides just enough citrus to mimic a traditional Negroni.

I used Fever Tree's "Refreshingly Light" ginger beer, which just has about half the amount of sugar. I didn't try it with the regular ginger beer, but I think the one I used is the way to go. It was still plenty sweet since the liqueurs and vermouth have plenty of sugar.

Adult like Don but a little predictable just like Don.

This one is high ABV, nearly 83 proof before ice dilution if using a 100 proof rye. While it isn't bad, in this case it doesn't quite work because the drink is also semi-dry. (Then again, Don Draper had become an embarrassing lush midway through....so the potency is thematic.) Shockingly, Fernet is mostly hidden behind the masking alcohol heat. The dry Curacao seems to lend an odd bitter orange chemical aspect in the finish. Averna's character is somewhat muted. I am not sure what the solution is, perhaps using an 86 proof rye, and a low ABV orange aperitivo (vs. 80 proof dry Curacao), would improve the character while retaining key elements.

This is not "too hot" for me, personally. Perhaps some of that is a personal preference for strong brown drink (eyes the 108 proof rye I used for this).

But: there's also as much sweetness in the ounce of modifiers as there is in a typical black Manhattan and most cognacs will both knock down the proof and knock up the sweetness.

I liked it

Tastes differ, but the fact that folks have found the need to add 1/4 oz of Grand Marnier or Dry Curacao to the original recipe is itself a commentary on the dry high ABV nature of the drink, particularly if using 100 proof rye. One of the things I have noticed is that with recipes that are past about 80 proof prior to ice dilution, the alcohol heat often dominates, suppressing other flavors. It can be the difference between a "meh" cocktail like this one, or something I want to have again. FWIW, I generally make Black Manhattan's with 90 proof rye...which is the same as using an ounce each of 100 rye and 80 cognac here. The difference in heat with this recipe is that half the 58 proof Averna is replaced by 80 proof Marnier/Curacao and 78 proof Fernet.

Fair. Archived menus call for Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon, 90-proof. So: original was lower proof and likely to lean sweeter and less spicy than say BIB rye.

Good find on that early menu with the drink listed as "The bitter end of Don Draper." Yes, switching to a 90 proof bourbon would cut the heat and reduce the rye pepper as well (although Four Roses does have substantial rye in the blend, probably close to Bulleit Bourbon?) I could see deleting the orange liqueur to test the original recipe. Now I wonder if the ratios are correct or if something was reshuffled to add the orange. Was it a 3 oz or 2.75...or something else? Maybe 2 bourbon/cognac, 1/2 Averna, 1/2 Fernet Branca? Or 2 : 3/4 : 1/4?

Tried my own take on the original Oyster Bar cocktail using their specified Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon (very nice, picked it up for this), chose Courvoisier VSOP (1 each), 2/3 Averna, 1/3 Fernet Branca, 1 dash Angostura, 1 dash Regan's Orange (since "bitters" was all that they said in the menu.) No orange liqueur as it wasn't called for. This is definitely a better balanced cocktail, still 78.3 proof before dilution and very much spirit forward. The saffron/menthol comes through, no odd orange taste, not too hot or peppery. Basically, tune the ratio of Averna to Fernet to your tastes.