Good cocktail, but a rather sweet. Would benefit from more bite from acid and alcohol. Suggest flipping Cynar and Tequila ratios, adding more lemon, and perhaps reducing Cointreau or eliminating it add upping the orange bitters (maybe Angostura orange). Promising.

The "history" for several drinks on Wikipedia were altered by a rapscallion of a bartender working at Drink who changed the Sidecar to Sam "Suck It" Treadway, the Sazerac to John D. Gertsen, and the Bijou to Ezra Star plus a few others. The damage leaked into such reputable sites as Tales of the Cocktail and someone even dressed up as John D. Gertsen to act out the creation of the Sazerac.

Anyone else wonder about the 1oz maraschino cherry? Assuming that’s just one cherry, right?

Yes, that must've been a "units" error. Fixed, thanks.

Pretty impressed with this - a Fernet cocktail (with more than 1/4 oz. of the stuff) that I can get behind. I know it's an Employees Only original, but any ideas as to where the name comes from?

In Argentina, a Fernet & Coca-Cola (effectively the national beverage) is sometimes called a Fernando. I don't know if the EO boys had that in mind when they named their decidedly not Coke-tasting beverage, but it could be the source, or perhaps both drinks draw from some older piece of Fernet lore I don't know about. Or maybe the EO guys are just huge ABBA fans.

DrunkLab, thanks for the info! And thank you for presenting it in a manner that made me lol at least twice.

Great

I'm under the weather with something called "para-influenza," which apparently is a legal term for "hatin' life," and this drink is treating me just right.

Just catching up with the site, and I appreciate your comments. Surprised you have that kinda eau de vie, it's not too common but man is it original and fun to use in weird drink formulas.
It takes a strong man or woman to enjoy an Alaska Forest! Hope you follow @52martinis on Twitter too.

Delicious. Bitter and refreshing. The Campari/Cynar/vermouth is the center of the drink: the Campari is definitely in control, but the Cynar adds interesting herbal/honeyed/savory accents; the blanc vermouth lightens it all up and adds wine, vanilla, and orange notes. Subtle mint from the Fernet and botanical complexity from the Tanq. Some unexpected leather notes on the way down. The orange oil upfront is worth the three twists. I made this half-sized and upon my first sip immediately wished I'd made more.

Did not have bianco vermouth; subbed in Lillet Blanc. Very refreshing, bitter with just enough sweet to balance 👍🏼

Bottom three ingredients differ from Amaro by BT Parsons. This is better.

Fascinating cocktail. I was initially skeptical about the Islay Scotch. I often find that Islay-heavy cocktails are good, but not as good as a nice Islay neat. I made it as stated (1:1:0.5:0.5), except with Bowmore Legend.

This drink however brings together the disparate flavors of the bitter, spicy Punt e Mes, the bitter, savory Cynar, and the smoky Scotch. I thought that maybe the Lemon would be the odd man out, and I tasted the drink at room temperature before adding the lemon. It was very good. I usually don't like sweeter drinks, but I found it very appealing without the lemon. The lemon does add both brightness and the actual lemon notes, which complements the Cynar. It reduces the bitterness a bit, but there is sufficient bitterness to retain interest. It also lends a nice transition, with the smoke and acid and lemon flavors giving way to the lingering bitterness. A good sipper.

I had two thoughts for other directions to try. The first would be substituting lemon bitters for the lemon, and garnishing with a huge expressed lemon peel. The second was to try Xocolatl Mole bitters becauese I think the bitter cacao flavor would go well with the peaty scotch and the Punt e Mes spice.

As written this is a very good cocktail, and a surprise as well.

So I made this again, with the sub of Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters, as Dan suggested. I still like the flamed orange peel, though. With the addition of the Mole Bitters, the drink is more cohesive.

I liked the sweetness of the Fee's Whiskey Barrel Aged 09, but the cocktail is now firmed on the back end by the bitters - it's citrus fruit up front, smoky/tobacco in the midpalate, then bitter and chocolatey that lingers. I like this. I'm changing the recipe entry to Xocolatl Mole Bitters... now for a name ;) 

Winner of the 2011 Anvil Bar and Refuge "Bar Regulars Competition"