American Trilogy
- 1 oz rye whiskey (Rittenhouse)
- 1 oz apple brandy (Laird's Straight Apple Brandy)
- 1 tsp (5 ml) rich Demerara syrup
- 2 dashes orange bitters (Regan's)
Combine ingredients in an unchilled rocks glass. Carefully add a large ice cube and stir until chilled (about 10 seconds). Garnish with an orange twist.
We discovered this cocktail in Paul Clarke's The Cocktail Chronicles. The book has a wonderful section featuring recipes that are modifications of the classics, in this case the Old-Fashioned. The Educated Barfly also shows how to make the drink though he demonstrates the original method of muddling a brown sugar cube soaked in bitters. We prefer the simpler option of using rich Demerara syrup. It's easier and you can better control the amount of sweetness.
The drink was created in 2006 by Michael McIlroy and Richard Boccato of Milk & Honey, New York City. The name refers to the three American ingredients and celebrates the recent availability of Laird's Apple Brandy, after a long absence, driven by a grassroots campaign on the distributers from Audrey Saunders and the bartenders of New York City. Rye and apple brandy make excellent partners to create a delightful Old-Fashioned. However, I think I prefer the Fallback which swaps the sugar for an amaro and some sweet vermouth. While the recipe reads like a modified Manhattan I find the effect more like a full-bodied Old-Fashoned.