Is there anything more redolent of fall than apples, pears, and allspice dram? We dont think so, and it seems that cocktail writer chuck taggart agrees with us. His recipe for the gorgeous reveillon has been a holiday party go-to for almost a decade now. Taggarts recipe is pretty flexible about the type of apple brandy you can use straight apple brandy, calvados, or even applejack. In fact, the only brand name he specifies is punt e mes, a sweet vermouth with unusually bitter, complex, spicy flavors. Weve made it with plenty of other sweet vermouths, but we agree that a more characterful vermouth does best here. Punt e mes is ideal, but weve also enjoyed with the sweeter, more vanilla-tinged flavor of carpano antica.