Black Friday on Black Friday

1 1/2 oz Four Roses Single Barrel
3/4 oz Rothman & Winter Cherry Liqueur
1/2 oz Averna Amaro
1/4 oz Cynar
1 dash (15 drops) Bitter Truth Allspice Dram

Stir everything with ice and strain into a chilled Cocktail glass. Garnish with a little ground Nutmeg and steel yourself against the consumerist Hell of the holidays.

Ah, Black Friday, the true beginning of the season of caring and giving. It needed a drink in it’s name so I gave it a bit of thought and ended up with this new entry into my list of Blackened Cocktails. All of the other drinks in that series are “Blackened” versions of existing drinks, however, this one is something new, built on a concept.

I wanted to start with something solid, cheap and inoffensive like a Four Roses Bourbon. Give it a bit of forced sweetness with some Cherry Liqueur and then blacken it like the hearts of all the oligarchs profiting on the holidays with a nice bit of Averna. Next it needed a shot of harsh bitterness to reflect dismal dark side of the holidays with some Cynar as people further descend into their deep pits of holiday despair and a finish with a splash of Allspice Dram just for that reminder that this is Xmas and the most wonderful time of the year.