Spicy rye, softened by a dissolved sugar cube and sharpened with a couple of dashes of bitters, drinks cold and neat from a glass washed with absinthe, like an Old Fashioned pushed toward anise and spice. Expressed lemon oil and the ghost of the rinse lift a bracing, anise-edged aroma over the spice-forward whiskey core, so the nose arrives first and the rye's warmth settles in behind it.
Garnish: Lemon Peel
Stirred · Rocks · Neat
rinse
Rinse a chilled rocks glass with the absinthe to coat the interior; discard any excess.
muddle
In a mixing glass, dissolve the sugar cube with the Peychaud's bitters and a little of the whiskey.
stir
Add the rye whiskey and ice; stir until well chilled.
strain
Strain into the absinthe-rinsed rocks glass, served neat (no ice).
express
Express a lemon peel over the surface to release its oils, then discard the peel.
The drink takes its name from Sazerac de Forge et Fils, the cognac that first served as its base, and no single inventor is documented — its New Orleans story gathers around the apothecary Antoine Amédée Peychaud, whose bitters define it, Aaron Bird, reputed to have poured a "Sazerac Cocktail" at the Sazerac Coffee House around the 1850s, and Thomas Handy, who later set down the rye version. Once the 19th-century wine blight ravaged French vineyards, rye took over from cognac, and the recipe reached print for the first time in Boothby's The World's Drinks in 1908. Drink historians such as David Wondrich reject the popular claim that it is America's oldest cocktail. Its local standing became official in 2008, when Louisiana declared it the cocktail of New Orleans.