Overproof Old Fashioned

When you're making a stirred cocktail, you always want to consider how temperature and dilution will affect the final drink. For an Old Fashioned variety you want something higher proof that won't just taste like water after a couple minutes. We use Charter 101 at the bar, which is an overproof bourbon from Kentucky by Buffalo Trace, but really you can use any 101-proof bourbon. Wild Turkey 101 and Four Roses Single Barrel are a bit easier to find, and would work really well for this drink.

Ramblin' Man, from Esquire

From The Silver Dollar, Louisville, KY

• 2 oz Charter 101 bourbon
• .25 oz honey syrup*
• 1 dash Peychaud's bitters
• 4 drops Sheldon bitters**

Put 1 dash of Peychaud's bitters into an old fashioned glass and add the honey syrup and bourbon.  Stir to taste with ice, pour into a separate old fashioned glass over 3 ice cubes and garnish with Sheldon bitters (do not stir ).

* The honey syrup is 2 parts honey: 1 part water, boiled until slightly thickened.

** Sheldon Bitters are house-made sassafras bitters, with notes of cinnamon and cherry bark. You can substitute with Bitter Truth Old Time Aromatic bitters or Scrappy's root-beer bitters.

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