In the second issue of “Lucky Peach,” Julian Van Winkle, heir to the Van Winkle bourbon dynasty, discusses Old Fashioneds:
A lot of people treat the addition of anything to bourbon or good single-malt scotch like treason. They treat bourbon like this virgin substance that you don’t want to mess with. That’s a mistake. When you dilute the whiskey just a bit - not too much - you open the door to hundreds of new flavors. Even a few drops of water can totally open a whiskey up. It will hide some of the alcohol and bring out the flavors of the grain and the oak barrels.
I couldn’t agree more, and in fact made a similar point in my American Drink post about Old Fashioneds.
Van Winkle goes on to share his favorite Old Fashioned recipe, which he borrowed from London bartender Johann Spitzen:
Ingredients:
4 ounces Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve fifteen-year-old bourbon
3 dashes orange bitters (Van Winkle uses Regan’s Orange Bitters)
1 cocktail napkin
1 cube raw sugar
1 half-inch-thick half-moon of ripe orange, with rindDirections:
Put a paper napkin across the top of a cocktail glass and set the sugar cube on top of it. Hit the cube with three dashes of orange bitters and let it soak in, allowing the napkin to absorb the excess. Drop the cube in the glass and discard the napkin. Add the orange slice and use a bar spoon to muddle the flesh - not the rind and pith - into the bitters-soaked sugar cube. Take your time. When the sugar and the flesh of the orange are one with each other, add ice and 4 ounces of bourbon. Stir and serve.
The rather generous 4 ounces of bourbon and the cocktail napkin are interesting and unorthodox touches to say the least. The muddled orange slice borrows from what purists derisively refer to as the “garbage” Old Fashioned, which is surprising considering Van Winkle is a spirits man. The fact that there are so many variations on such a simple drink is a big part of what makes the Old Fashioned great.
