Benton’s Old Fashioned

The pioneering use of fat-washed bourbon isn’t the only unusual element of this now-famous cocktail created by Don Lee at PDT. It also calls for replacing the Old Fashioned’s standard sugar cube or simple syrup with maple syrup, perfectly complementing the bacon-flavored bourbon.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces fat-washed Four Roses bourbon*
  • 1/4 ounce Big Red’s maple syrup
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • Garnish: orange twist

Procedure

  1. Add the fat-washed bourbon, maple syrup and bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled.
  2. Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
  3. Express the oil of an orange peel over the cocktail and drop in the peel.

*Fat-washed Four Roses bourbon (from Jim Meehan’s “The PDT Cocktail Book”): In a cambro/container, combine 1 750 mL bottle of Four Roses bourbon and 1 1/2 ounces liquified fat from Benton’s Smoky Mountain country ham. Set aside for 4 hours to infuse. Place the container in the freezer for 2 hours. Take the container out of the freezer, and strain the bourbon from the solidified fat with terry cloth or cheesecloth.

Autumn

Bar veteran and drink writer Naren Young developed this cocktail and named it as straightforward as possible: the Autumn encapsulates the spirit of fall, mixing multiple ingredients each with their own autumnal aspects.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces Laird’s applejack
  • 1/2 ounce amontillado sherry
  • 1/4 ounce Clear Creek pear brandy
  • 1/2 ounce Big Red’s maple syrup
  • 3 dashes apple bitters
  • Garnish: allspice tincture
  • Garnish: dehydrated pear crisp

Procedure

  1. Add the Laird’s Applejack, amontillado sherry, pear brandy, maple syrup and apple bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled.
  2. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
  3. Spray with allspice tincture, garnish with a pear crisp, and serve on a burning maple leaf (optional).

Pumpkin Toddy

Lean in for a whiff of this fragrant fall-ready toddy. Created by Jane Danger, this recipe originally appeared in Jim Meehan’s book “The PDT Cocktail Book: The Complete Bartender’s Guide from the Celebrated Speakeasy.”

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce Laird’s bonded apple brandy
  • 1/2 ounce Rittenhouse rye whiskey
  • 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 ounce Big Red’s maple syrup
  • 1 tsp Libby’s pumpkin purée
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 5 ounces boiling water
  • Garnish: grated cinnamon

Procedure

  1. Add all the ingredients except the water to a preheated mug and stir to combine.
  2. Top with 5 ounces of boiling water and stir.
  3. Garnish with grated cinnamon.