Dubonnet Was a Lady

The recipe in my calendar yesterday was for a drink made with Dubonnet, brandy, and lemon juice. Simple enough, but not my favorite. I'm not big on fortified or sweet red wines, though the brandy punched it up and the lemon cut the sweetness a little.

I decided to try a second Dubonnet drink since the bottle was out, and I saw online that the Blackthorn Cocktail is often made with it: Dubonnet, kirsch, and gin (I used Plymouth). Looking around later for alternate recipes, I discovered that it's usually made with sloe gin, since it's made from the berries of the blackthorn bush. Shrub. Small tree. Whatever.

I liked this one even less. After the first sip I wondered if I should introduce it to the drain in the sink, but I hate to waste good gin. The flavors together just didn't work for me. Maybe a professional mixologist would know how to tweak this to get it to taste better?