Welcome to our cocktail series, "The Happy Hour." It's Friday afternoon. Make yourself a drink.
Some weeks, you need a strong drink to soften the world's edges--throat burn and eyewater be damned! But some weeks, when everything seems to be motoring toward the abyss, you need a strong drink with soft edges of its own. That's when you reach for the Oakenshield, a cocktail from The Bachelor Farmer & Marvel Bar in Minneapolis, to deflect the slings and arrows headed your way.
A wallop of smoky scotch gets softened with the tang of Cynar and the nutty sweetness of Nocello, and a pinch of kosher salt keeps things from getting too cloying. If your bar's running low (or has never had) Nocello or Cynar, Frangelico and Campari (respectively) make for passable replacements--both are a little sweeter than what the recipe calls for, though, so adjust accordingly to keep the balance in check.
Get the recipe: The Oakenshield