The method
How to make it
Light one rosemary sprig, blow it out, and trap a rocks glass upside-down over the smoke while you build. Wood chips and a torch work too, but rosemary is already in your kitchen.
In a mixing glass: bourbon, simple syrup and three dashes of Angostura bitters.
Add ice and stir, do not shake, thirty smooth seconds. An old fashioned is stirred silk, not froth.
Flip the smoked glass, drop in one big clear cube, and strain the drink over it.
Express the orange peel over the surface, skin side down, wipe it around the rim, and drop it in with the cherry.
The serve
How to present it
This is the slowest drink in the house and it should look like it: one giant cube, amber spirit, curl of orange, faint campfire nose from the glass. Serve it after dinner with nowhere to be. If your guest checks their phone before the first sip, take it back.
Make it yours
Swaps & variations
Rye instead of bourbon makes it drier and spicier, the pre-war spec. Maple syrup for the simple is a Vermont handshake. Skip the smoke and it is a flawless classic old fashioned, add a barspoon of coffee liqueur instead and it becomes something you invented, name it after yourself.
Keep pouring
