Verona Cocktail

I'm always happy when good ingredients take what could be an overly sweet cocktail in an interesting direction. In the case of the Verona cocktail, that is almost every one of the ingredients I chose. This quintessentially Italian cocktail shows off flavors of northern and southern Italy.

First a good amaretto like Lazzaroni is less bitter and has more of the Sorrono cookie flavor than the mainstream brands. Punt E Mes is a very bitter sweet vermouth. There's so much packed into it that it doesn't even resemble other sweet vermouths. Finally, Copper Fox VirGin is a gin spiced like no other gin. All together this is one of the most flavorful and equally light and interesting rocks cocktails you can make with these same ingredients. It's totally luxurious and at the same time, simple. The ingredients really make the difference.

• 2 oz. gin (Copper Fox VirGin used)
• 1 oz. amaretto (Lazzaroni used)
• 1/2 oz. sweet vermouth (Punt E Mes used)
• 1/4 tsp. lemon juice
• orange slice

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass full of fresh (large) ice. Garnish with the orange slice.