The Oaxacan Old Fashioned rebuilds the drink on agave — a split base of reposado tequila and mezcal, sweetened with agave syrup. Created at Death & Co in 2007, it became one of the most influential cocktails of the entire craft revival.
The cocktail that taught a generation of bartenders to riff.
Phil Ward and Death & Co
The Oaxacan Old Fashioned was created by Phil Ward at Death & Co, the New York bar that helped define modern cocktail culture. Ward's method — take a classic template and swap its spirit for agave — became a whole school of bartending. This drink is its founding document.
Tequila for Body, Mezcal for Smoke
The split base is the genius of it. Reposado tequila provides the body and gentle oak that whiskey would have given; a smaller pour of mezcal threads smoke through the drink. Agave syrup ties them together — the sweetener drawn from the same plant as the spirits.
The Flamed Orange Peel
The traditional garnish is a flamed orange peel — its oils expressed through a lit match, caramelising over the surface. It is a piece of theatre, but a functional one: the warm, slightly burnt citrus oil suits the smoke and agave beautifully.
The Old Fashioned Family
The original cocktail — spirit, sugar, and bitters over ice, with an orange peel.
- 2 ozBourbon or rye
- 1 cubeSugar
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Rye sweetened with maple, deepened with black walnut bitters — earthy and autumnal.
- 2 ozRye whiskey
- 1 tspMaple syrup
- 2 dashesBlack walnut bitters
The Midwest's Old Fashioned — brandy, muddled orange and cherry, and a soda top ordered sweet, sour, or press.
- 2 ozBrandy
- 1 cubeSugar
- MuddleOrange & cherry
Aged Demerara rum and demerara syrup — a unified, dark, deeply warming Old Fashioned.
- 2 ozDemerara rum
- 1 tspDemerara syrup
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters
Ward's pale, floral Old Fashioned — gin, St-Germain, and orange bitters, with a grapefruit twist.
- 2 ozPlymouth gin
- 1/2 ozSt-Germain
- 2 dashesOrange bitters
Rye and bonded applejack in equal parts — the Old Fashioned rebuilt out of American spirits.
- 1 ozRye whiskey
- 1 ozBonded applejack
- 1/4 ozRich demerara syrup
A carajillo in Old Fashioned form — coffee liqueur and Licor 43 over cognac and rye.
- 1 ozCognac
- 1 ozRye whiskey
- 1/4 ozLicor 43
The same drink with its collar turned up — a teaspoon of maraschino and a dash of absinthe.
- 2 ozRye whiskey
- 1 tspMaraschino liqueur
- 1 dashAbsinthe
Bourbon washed with rendered bacon fat, maple for the sugar — the drink that made fat-washing ordinary.
- 2 ozBacon-fat-washed bourbon
- 1/4 ozMaple syrup
- 2 dashesAngostura bitters