I was scrolling through the cocktail of the week archives and realised I have omitted to date one of the great classics - The Sazerac. The Sazerac is a delicious true original classic cocktail with the historical story not to be matched.

Around 1850, Sewell T. Taylor sold his bar, The Merchants Exchange Coffee House, and went into the imported liquor business. He began to import a brand of cognac named Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils. At the same time, Aaron Bird took over the Merchants Exchange and changed its name to the Sazerac House and began serving the "Sazerac Cocktail," made with Taylor's Sazerac cognac and, legend has it, the bitters being made down the street by a local druggist, Antoine Amedie Peychaud. The Sazerac House changed hands several times and around 1870 Thomas Handy took over as proprietor. Around this time the primary ingredient changed from cognac to rye whiskey.

Ingredients:
60ml Woodford Reserve

15ml Simple Syrup

Fee Brothers Original Bitters to taste

Hapsburg Absinthe

Lemon twist for garnish

Method:
Chill an old-fashioned glass by filling it with ice and letting it sit while preparing the rest of the drink. In a separate mixing glass, muddle the simple syrup and bitters together. Add the whiskey and ice to the bitters mixture and stir. Discard the ice in the chilled glass and rinse it with absinthe by pouring a small amount into the glass, swirling it around and discarding the liquid. Strain the whiskey mixture from the mixing glass into the old fashioned glass.

Garnish:
Garnish with a lemon twist. Traditionalists will say that the lemon twist should be squeezed over the drink to release its essences but that the twist should not be dropped into the glass itself.