Mezcal Negroni

On menus it usually turns up as a Mezcal or Oaxacan Negroni, which tells you the plan before you taste it: smoke in the red frame. Swap the gin for mezcal and the drink stops being botanical and turns smoky, the agave out front, the whole thing drier and earthier. It's a deliberate detour, drinking nothing like the Classic. A loud, smoky mezcal will bury the vermouth if you let it, so a firmer vermouth like Punt e Mes fights back where a softer one just rounds it off.