Oaxacan Old Fashioned

Phil Ward, Death and Co, New York City, 2007. Ward created the drink as a Negroni riff that morphed into an Old Fashioned during development. The mole bitters were developed by Avery and Janet Glasser of Bittermens specifically for the drink's launch. Death and Co (opened 2007 on East 6th Street) became one of the most important cocktail bars in American history.

The Oaxacan Old Fashioned is the most influential cocktail of the 21st-century mezcal renaissance — a 2007 Death and Co creation by Phil Ward that replaced the Old Fashioned's single spirit with a 50:50 split of reposado tequila and mezcal, using agave nectar instead of sugar and mole bitters (or Angostura) for the aromatic element. The resulting drink established the principle that a split base of related spirits (both from the agave family) could create a more complex cocktail than either alone, and that mole bitters were not just a novelty but a legitimate flavour architecture element. The Oaxacan Old Fashioned single-handedly made mezcal a cocktail bar staple.

FOOD PAIRING: The Oaxacan Old Fashioned's agave-smoke-chocolate-chile profile pairs with Oaxacan, smoked, and chocolate preparations. Provenance 1000 pairings: mole negro with turkey (the definitive Oaxacan pairing), tlayuda with quesillo and chorizo, smoked brisket with chocolate BBQ sauce, dark chocolate and chile truffles, and grilled corn with cotija and chile.