An Old Fashioned with agave where the whiskey was, stirred cold over a large cube so its smoke and earth unfold slowly. Reposado tequila carries the body while a measure of mezcal lends its campfire edge, sweetened just barely with agave nectar, rounded by aromatic bitters and finished with the caramelized oils of a flamed orange twist.
Garnish: Orange Peel
Stirred · Rocks · Large Cube
add
Combine reposado tequila, mezcal, agave nectar, and aromatic bitters in a mixing glass with ice.
stir
Stir until well-chilled and properly diluted.
strain
Strain into a rocks glass over one large ice cube.
express
Flame the orange twist over the surface to caramelize its oils.
garnish
Drop the expressed orange twist into the drink.
Phil Ward devised the drink in 2007 while working behind the bar at Death & Co in Manhattan, and he is consistently credited with it. Few cocktails of the modern era have been copied as widely, and for many drinkers it served as a first introduction to mezcal. Ward's original called for Angostura, though chocolate or cocoa bitters have since become a popular substitution.