Yes, the weather is getting cold, and yes, the Negroni is necessarily a chilled drink, best enjoyed on the Italian-side coast of Sperlonga overlooking the caves and water where Tiberius enjoyed his final syphilitic dinner parties.
There are certain drinks you can only enjoy in one context, and the Negroni is one of those. The Negroni for the most part requires warm weather — preferably a precarious Roman tile roof with a hash spliff and a liter of red wine besides — but I live in Charleston and our winters are, well, not really winters at all. Also, apparently the Negroni has become the de facto house drink at Cutty’s and I hadn’t had one in years so I needed to reacquaint myself with this concoction.