My favorite cocktails, part 5: the Sazerac

The Sazerac:
The most beautiful thing you can put in your mouth.
--David L. Smith, MD

Don't let anyone from New Orleans convince you that the Sazerac was the first cocktail.  That apocryphal story circles around this city like Achilles with Hector in tow, but it's not even close to true.  It is true that, in the 1850s, the owner of the Sazerac Coffee House combined Sazerac-du-Forge et Fils Cognac with absinthe and the bitters produced by New Orleans apothacary Antoine Peychaud for his signature cocktail.  In the second half of the 19th century, both Civil War blockade and French wine-country crop failures made Cognac scarce in New Orleans.  Thereafter, rye became the spirit of choice for this drinker's delicacy.

Three anecdotes:
a) I once had a cocktail party at which I served ten classic cocktails (in 1/3 proportions) to ten guests.  That makes 100 different drink experiences.  I took a poll that night, and every person thought the Sazerac was the best drink of them all.
b) A close (and very successful) friend once told me, in all seriousness, that my teaching him how to make a good Sazerac was "...one of the ten most important things I've learned in my entire life, maybe top five."
c) I've heard people ask a lot of great bartenders what their favorite cocktail is.  Almost all respond, "The Sazerac."

I'm telling you, this is a monumentally incredible cocktail.  Buy the ingredients; mix them frequently; sip; and let your worries melt away.

The Sazerac

2 oz rye whiskey (I use 1 oz Sazerac 6 year rye plus 1 oz Wild Turkey 101 rye)
1 tsp demarara syrup
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Combine, stir with ice, and set aside. Coat the inside of a chilled Old Fashioned glass with absinthe or absinthe substitute (Herbsaint or Pernod), and discard the excess. Strain the rye mixture into the coated glass. Twist a lemon peel over the glass; then moisten the glass's rim with the oil from the outside of the peel.  Discard the peel.

The best Sazerac I've ever had was made with Thomas H. Handy 18 year rye.  That's cask strength at 129 proof, so you have to stir a lot to cut alcohol.  It's a delicate balancing act.  My combination of 1:1 Sazerac 6 year to Wild Turkey 101 (with the green label; the brown label is bourbon) is my pick for the best balance of affordability, flavor, body, and bite.  It really is a beautiful thing.