Romancing the Stone
Stir with ice, strain into a rocks glass with ice, and garnish with a grapefruit twist.
Mellows nicely with ice melt.
In scanning my liquor shelves, I conjured up an Scotch abstraction of the Bijou taken in the Caustic Negroni direction. Since Scotch goes well with amari like Sfumato in the Preceptor and Cardamaro in the Great King Street, Green Chartreuse and orange bitters would round out the combination nicely. Moreover, Bijou means jewel, so I dubbed this one the Romancing the Stone after the 1984 romantic adventure comedy.
- Used Port Charlotte 10 scotch. A nice complex tasting cocktail, different.
- Trans-Europe Express — Speyside Scotch, Campari, Sweet vermouth, Herbal liqueur, Peychaud's Bitters, Orange bitters
- The Moops — Rye, Amaro, Bianco Vermouth, Bitters, Apricot liqueur
- Grandmother's Tea — Cognac, Bianco Vermouth, Amaro, Strega, Orange cream citrate, Lemon peel, Orange peel
- West Coast Cocktail — Reposado Tequila, Aperol, Aromatized wine, Cardamom bitters, Grapefruit peel
- Gallery Piece — Rye, Aromatized wine, Campari, Bitters
Clever combination and with thoughtful proportions. I wasn't sure if I would like this, since Green Chartreuse is often a bully in classic cocktails; but the Sfumato, Cardamaro, and Scotch are intense enough on their own to tame the strong herbal Chartreuse. Even the Angostura Orange Bitters (from the original post) were a good match for the other components. Of course Sfumato and Cardamaro are intense, so this is something one should be in the state of mind for.