Rye, demerara, three dashes Angostura, smoked applewood, expressed orange. Bigger than a regular Old Fashioned and twice as theatrical.
Why you are pouring this tonight
The Smoke and Orange Rye Old Fashioned is what happens when an Old Fashioned has read too much Hemingway and decided to spend money on equipment. The drink is a normal rye Old Fashioned (Bulleit Rye or Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond, demerara, three dashes Angostura, expressed orange peel) that has been sat under a glass cloche full of applewood smoke for thirty seconds before serving. The smoke clings to the surface of the drink and to the inside of the glass; you smell campfire as soon as you raise it; the first sip is the rye through a thin film of smoke. The drink at $32 in a hotel bar is what gets the cocktail menu its three-star Time Out review. You can do the same thing at home with $40 of equipment and ten minutes of reading.
The equipment: a butane kitchen torch ($15 from Bunnings), a small bowl of applewood or hickory smoking chips ($12 from any decent home-brew shop), and a wide upturned glass to catch the smoke (any tumbler larger than the cocktail glass). That is the entire kit. You do not need a Smoking Gun or a fancy decanter; both work but neither is necessary. The chips are the variable: applewood is sweet and gentle, hickory is medium and woodsy, mesquite is heavy and barbecue-coded. Pick based on what you are pairing the drink with.
The rye matters more than usual because the smoke amplifies its peppery character. Bulleit Rye at $55 is the everyday option; Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond at $80 is the upgrade if you can find it. Avoid bourbon for this drink (the sweetness fights the smoke); avoid Scotch (the smoke is already there). The drink wants the dry, peppery rye to sit underneath the smoke as a sharp counterpoint, not a duet.
What to pour it alongside
Before dinner, with smoked almonds, smoked salmon on rye crackers, or a piece of aged hard cheese (Pyengana cheddar, manchego). The drink loves anything that mirrors its smoke. After dinner, with a wedge of dark chocolate (Loving Earth 85%, Lindt Madagascan). Avoid pairing with anything sweet or anything fruity; the smoke will bully both into submission. The drink is also the right serve for the friend who has decided to take cocktails seriously this year and wants to know what theatre tastes like.
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Notes from the kitchen
Build the cocktail before you smoke it. Demerara cube in the lowball glass, three dashes Angostura, teaspoon of warm water, muddle until dissolved. Add 60ml rye, large ice cube, stir for 30 seconds. The cocktail is now ready and chilled. Now the smoke.
Place a small heatproof saucer with two tablespoons of applewood chips on the bar. Light the chips with the torch, blowing gently until they are smouldering and producing a steady stream of smoke. Cover the chips with the upturned glass tumbler immediately; the smoke fills the glass. Wait fifteen seconds. Quickly lift the tumbler off the chips and place it upside down over the lowball glass with the cocktail; the smoke transfers into the cocktail glass, sitting just above the surface of the drink. Wait another fifteen seconds, then lift the tumbler off and serve immediately.
Express the orange peel last, after the smoke has been added but before the drink is delivered. The fresh citrus oils on top of the smoke create the first sip’s nose: orange, smoke, rye, in that order. Skip the orange and the drink is just smoky rye. The orange is the bridge.
Two things that go wrong
Smoke is too aggressive and the drink tastes like an ashtray
Too much smoke time. Fifteen seconds under the cloche is the correct dose. Thirty seconds and you have made a barbecue in a glass. Next time, lift the cloche after fifteen and let the cocktail breathe for ten seconds before serving. The smoke should be present but not dominant.
No smoke clings to the drink
Chips were not properly lit, or the cloche was lifted too soon. Make sure the chips are smouldering steadily (not just glowing), wait until you see thick smoke, and keep the cocktail glass covered for the full fifteen seconds. If the room is draughty, do this in a sheltered corner.
Variations worth knowing
Bourbon smoked old fashioned
Use Wild Turkey 101 or Maker’s Mark instead of rye. The drink becomes sweeter, rounder, more approachable. The version for someone who is suspicious of rye but interested in the smoke.
Smoked maple old fashioned
Replace the demerara with a teaspoon of pure maple syrup (Vermont, not pancake syrup). The maple amplifies the wood smoke; the drink tastes like autumn even in July. The pairing for a bowl of smoked nuts.
Mezcal smoked old fashioned (the heretical one)
Replace half the rye with a smoky mezcal (Del Maguey Vida at $90). The drink becomes a smoke layered on smoke. Garnish with a chilli salt rim and a lime peel instead of orange. Mexican-inflected, surprising, the drink for someone who has been to Oaxaca and will not let it go.
Leftovers and make ahead
There are no leftovers. The smoke is the drink; an unsmoked Old Fashioned that has been sitting on the counter for an hour is just a flat Old Fashioned. The cocktail is single-serve, built and smoked fresh for each pour.
The applewood chips, however, can be reused once: re-light, get them smouldering, use them to smoke a second drink. After two uses they have lost most of their volatile oils and produce smoke that smells more like burnt toast than apple. Bin them and start fresh. A bag of chips lasts roughly forty drinks.
The recipe
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