Exactly. I was expecting spirit forward dry drink. Actually quite sweet, but not in a cloying way.

I remember making this years ago (maybe a decade?). This is a Phil Ward creation.  Sweet vermouth is Carpano Antica, Allspice Dram is St. Elizabeth and bitters (I've seen builds with 2 dashes) are Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters.  Garnish is a lit Laphroaig Cask Strength soaked cherry.

Thanks, Applejack! Updated the creator :)

Curated: corrected vermouth amount to match source.

Mastika is the liqueur made from the resin of the gum mastic tree, found near Chios, Greece. There's several brands available in the United States. It's sweet, so the sour and soda help cut it a bit, but the piney, resinous flavor makes a unique drink. I serve these at cocktail nights and always get requests for more.

The drink is a little sweet. We will try to decrease the orgeat & Abano.

Also, it seems to work better with a large cube in the rocks glass.

Agreement with previous comment about this being rather sweet (three of us who tried this together all had that same impression, although we all liked the drink.) 1/2 oz of syrup (orgeat) is a lot, unless there is citrus or a strong bitter component to balance it. I will probably repeat by knocking the orgeat back to 3/8 or even 1/4 to reduce the sweetness. Other than that, the orgeat's almond and the Abano augment one another favorably.

Also, per Fred Yarm's "Drink & Tell", the drink was created by Ted Kilpatrick at No. 9 Park in Boston, so it should be listed as authentic.

Were the sweet versions made with 130° Bourbon though? With 80-100° Bourbon, it's going to come off differently.

And yes, my book condenses the information in my blog post which is the reference here.

Good point. I made it with 101, but probably should have used the 116.8 Rare Breed instead since I have it on hand. I don't have Booker's, but with that at 126 to 130 proof and 2 1/4 oz it would be one stiff pour at ~94 - 96 proof before dilution, and ~1 2/3 oz of alcohol. I'll give it another go.