I made Sazeracs tonight, and it's just a delicious drink. I tend to like a mix of Ryes (Rittenhouse 100 and High West Rendezvous) to give me 1 1/2 oz, then an ounce of Cognac. I tend to rinse with Herbsaint, and I'm not careful about getting it all out. I also use probably closer to 1/4 oz. simple, as a sugar cube muddled with a splash of water. I also leave the fairly long lemon zest in the drink... I want the lemon punch to counteract the sweetness of the simple.

... in my house. And we make it with Rye and Lucid Absinthe, which I also don't bother to drain out, just ad a small splash to the glass, twirl and leave a little puddle in the bottom. I dont have Peychauds though, so use Angostura and recently Underberg (which seems a bit sweeter). Any comments on how Peychauds makes it different?

Angostura is all baking spices - heavy clove and cinnamon and allspice. Peychaud's isn't as bitter, and it gives the Sazerac a pretty reddish pink color. It also emphasizes the anise of the absinthe, with a 'tutti-frutti' overtone. My understanding is that some people use a dash of Angostura and 2-3 dashes Peychaud's, but both should be staples in any home bar.

I have committed sacrilege. Out of a combination of laziness and curiosity, I used 2 spoons of raspberry syrup in place of the simple... I know, I know: the cocktail gods are frowning on me. But they can keep on frowning, because it turned out delicious! The raspberry plays with the Herbsaint, Peychaud's and lemon beautifully!...

I've made it twice now, first with Rittenhouse, and 1 dash Ango & 2 or 3 Peychaud's. But the second time, I used Wiser's Legacy (a new-ish high-rye Canadian), and in place of the Ango, I subbed Bitters, Old Men's limited edition Raspberry Chamomile Bitters. Neither version were overly sweet; the main differences (naturally) being spicier on the first vs. more floral on the second... While this won't be my go-to Saz, it's definitely a fun change of pace!

Reverting to small-batch cognac instead of rye, per old recipe(s), transforms this Classic Cocktail by tipping the familiar balance & allowing more herbal notes to emerge. A revelation.

Rather splendid tonight with Garvey's Esplendido Spanish brandy. Dial back the simple a little.

I tried substituting bourbon barrel aged maple syrup in place of simple syrup to change things up a bit.  I think it came out pretty darn good.  Not much sweeter and a very mild flavor addition.

This is the gold Standard for Sazeracs. How can anyone call some of those other concoctions posted a Sazerac? there oughta be a law! On the same scale of atrocities as chocolate milk and creme de menthe in a conical glass being called a Martini.

Works (perhaps surprisingly) well with a full-flavoured gin. And you really get the Peychaud's pink coming through.

Reading the bottle of Herbsaint I have, the Sazerac website, and a few other "authentic" recipe sites I have noticed that there is no stirring of the ice and the whisky/bitters mixture; it just gets poured into the cold glass. So the drink is barely cold, and very strong. This recipe and a few others say to stir whisky/bitters with ice. Which one is correct?

This is an excellent selection for brunch or a lighter cocktail in the afternoon -- much better than a Mimosa. Despite the heavy dose of bitters, it is not particularly bitter. The acidity of the wine balances the triple sec nicely; the result is still tart.

Well, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/02/dining/seelbach-cocktail-louisville-f…

Due to the NYT article, I updated the source attribution.  Thanks, Zachary

I love this drink! This is the drink that made me fall in love with Fernet. The first time I made it, I halved the fernet because it was just too strong of a flavor for me. In fact it was polarizing. I hated it, but wanted to love it. Now, Fernet is one of my favorite amaros to mix. Fernet will grow on you if you give it a chance. Really great drink!

I love Fernet and have had a fair amount of experience with it, and I still feel halving it for this drink is probably a good idea. Really good as it is, though.

This really is great, but I thought the non-bourbon ingredients were all a bit too much. I prefer 1/2 oz Cointreau, 3/8 oz Fernet, 1/4 oz Maraschino. You still hit all the notes, but it's a little less sweet and the Fernet stays behaved. Also prefer a higher proof bourbon here, such as Knob, but in truth that's almost always what I prefer in Manhattan variants like this.

I second that, higher proof bourbon improves this. I do 1/2 oz dry Orange Curaçao, 1/2 oz Fernet, 1/4 oz Maraschino. A generous piece of orange peel is also really good, I usually cut a long spiral out with a channel knife over the drink.

An interesting, complex drink with a lot going on taste-wise. I carefully reviewed the comments made about the drink before I made it. Based on my experiences with each of the ingredients, I understood why the comments were made and agreed with them. I wondered only about Fernet Branca; in some drinks it can overpower the other ingredients and a smaller amount needs to be used, but with other cocktails the Fernet Branca seems right at home, and no change in its amount needs to be made. In this case I started off with Elijah Craig bourbon (97 proof) My other choices were Jim Beam Black label (87 proof) and Woodford Reserve (90 proof) I would not want to go over 95 proof, as I think something like Booker's at 127 proof would simply overwhelm the other ingredients--and maybe the drinker! Then, as was suggested by several, I used 1/2 oz Grand Marnier, 1/4 oz Fernet Branca, 1/4 oz Maraschino liqueur, 2 ds Regans' orangs bitters, and a good-sized orangs swath to exprss the oils.

My results:  The final cocktail, with its adjustments, was very tasty and balanced. There were two changes that I made--which were for the better. First, I added just a few additional drops of Maraschino Liqueur, so that the total amount (from the first and second amounts) equaled a "fat" 1/4 oz. The need for the second change surprised me: I had to add a few more drops of Fernet Branca, which smoothed out both the Grand Marnier and the Maraschino Liqueur, and provided a better balance of overall tastes among the ingredients.In short, between what I originally added of Fernet Branca and what I added later, was the equivalent of a "fat" 1/4 oz.

My only other caveat is that Grand Marnier and Cointreau are not the same, and the equivalent amount may result in a different taste. This is because Grand Marnier has a Cognac base, whereas Cointreau does not.

In summary:  Based on the comments made by others and my experience with the recipe for the "Root of All Evil," I suggest the following for its recipe:

2 oz of a high-proof (about 90 proof) Bourbon, 1/2 oz Grand Marnier (if using Cointreau, adjust to taste), a "fat" 1/4 oz Fernet Branca (adjust to taste), a "fat" 1/4 oz Maraschino liqueuer (adjust to taste), 2 ds Regans' orange bitters, and a wide orange swatch (express the oil and drop in cocktail) I rate this cocktail between 4.0 and 4.5.

Like many others, I’ve reduced the amaro and maraschino. I’ve made this now probably two dozen times and it’s my favorite cocktail. 

 

my recipe, which benefits from some local Northeastern distilleries:

2 oz high-proof Bourbon (try Putnam, a Boston local!)

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

a "fat" 1/4 oz Amaro (such as Fernet Branca or 👉Marseille, a Brooklyn distillery)

a "fat" 1/4 oz Maraschino liqueur

2 dashes orange bitters

Pour into shaker with ice, stir, strain into a highball with an ice block, garnish with a twisted orange peel

As-is first try, then replaced orange bitters with absinthe, completely transformed the profile. I prefer it with the absinthe, but your mileage may vary

Made a variation of this with rye, Gran Classico, and Amaro CioCiaro. Excellent. Used it for Mixoloseum's Thursday Drink Night and called it a Balsa Airplane.

I agree that this is excellent- my favorite variation by far, thank you for this!

The Paper Airplane uses Amaro Nonino, not Ramazzotti. Toby specifies <a href="http://egullet.org/p1581127">here</a&gt;. The key differences between the Paper Plane and Paper Airplane are a switch from Elijah Craig to Buffalo Trace and Aperol to Campari. The Nonino stays the same. Personally, I prefer Campari and Elijah Craig (which would be a hybrid of the two recipes). Tonight I made a version with George T. Stagg (calling it the Lead Balloon), which is rather nice in its own right.

ETA: Both drinks are also served up.

Yikes! Thanks for pointing this out. I've written Toby for verification since I've seen it on the web otherwise. Sometimes cocktails evolve over time. I'll have to make one with both amari to compare. Sounds like fun.

A bit of an update. I asked Toby and he confirmed the recipes (although not the bourbon choices), but said that he thought that Sammy originally created it with Campari and then changed it himself to Aperol. It's also not clear when the name changed to AIRplane, and whether it was intentional. Still researching... I have changed the amaro, corrected the instructions, and specified the bourbon.

I think Toby's probably right. He made me the drink before Sammy did, which I think muddied the causality waters in my mind. I somehow managed to internalize Sammy making it differently than Toby had as 'Toby must have tweaked Sammy's recipe' rather than thinking that Sammy would have evolved his own.

What I know from personally being served the drink by both men is that Toby's at The Violet Hour in the summer of '08 was called a Paper Airplane and included Buffalo Trace and Campari, and that when I ordered a "Paper Plane" from Sammy at M&H a couple years later, he made it with Elijah Craig and Aperol. We discussed the fact that he'd come up with it for the Violet Hour menu and even the Aperol/Campari variation, but my memory is very hazy of the timeline of the change(s) (if we discussed it at all)...based on the half-remembered conversation and Toby's claim, I'd be pretty confident saying the Campari version/Paper Airplane was Sammy's original recipe, but then he adjusted it to Aperol and changed the name slightly to reflect that. The switch in bourbons, and whether they're considered integral to one incarnation of the drink or the other, isn't something I feel I can comment on with any authority, beyond my personal experience above and stating that I prefer the drink with Elijah Craig.

The Balsa Airplane variation is still one of my favorite cocktails- though I tend to use grapefruit juice in place of some of the lemon juice when I have it around. Reminds me of the Peralta, which I also really like.

So nice. Perfectly balanced.

One of my handful of five-star cocktails. I like to add a tbsp egg white and dry shake first. I like the lightness.

A couple of dashes of Angostura Orange Bitters were a good addition

Have made this with so many different brand combinations of the three ingredients and it's always good. Tonight was Old Overholt, Gran Classico, and Lillet Blanc.

Fantastic. Surprisingly so. The secondary ingredients are subtle but vital, and the salt adds that extra level of complexity to balance it out. Highly recommend the salted ice garnish.

Noticed the source link calls for 4 ds of the bitters... Delicious, and damn near cola-like this way. Got impatient and stirred in the salt after a couple sips... 2nd attempt, tried 2 ds each of the WBA and Peychaud's to see if I could amp up the cola-ness, but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. Next time I want to try 3 ds WBA, 1 ds Bitter Truth Creole and a (discarded) orange twist... Also, if/when I get an iSi whipper, this will be one of the first drinks I try carbonating.

Thanks. Recipe changed from 1d to 4d Ango.

I stumbled upon this drink by accident today: it was the featured cocktail of the day at Kindredcocktail.com. I looked over the ingredients and decided to give it a try. I used a top-shelf gin, made by St. George in CA named Terroir. It is NOT a London Dry style gin; it is, as you might guess from the gin's name, a gin made from a variety of CA botanicals, including "Douglas Fir, CA bay laurel, fennel, coastal sage, orris root, angelica root, juniper berries, and other profoundly aromatic botanical ingrediients." I also reduced the lemon juice from 1 oz to 1/2 oz, and used a fat 1/2 oz Maraschino liqueur. The result was a splended drink, in part, I believe, to the uniquely earthy but wholey drinkable St. George gin. If this gin is not available, I recommend using a highly botonical gin such as Magellen Blue, Citadelle, or Tanqueray Bloomsbury. Tanqueray Ten may work well, also. Oh, yes, before I forget, I rated this drink 5.0 using the changes I made. How well another gin will work, I will leave to others to discover and comment on. Meanwhile, enjoy this drink; it is full of flavors.

As the creator of the Hoskins cocktail, may I suggest that if you're going to change the base spirit and the primary modifier you might as well rename it and make it your own. :) Looks good -- I'll give it a try.

Name changed from Hoskins Cocktail (Amer Picon-less version) to The Mexican Hoskins Cocktails.

And the creator should be correctly attributed to Butters, who is a member here (a.k.a. PB & Foie).

It's good, but has an insane amount of maraschino. I'd like to try it again but with the original Hoskins level of 1/2 oz.

I put this in a rocks glass because it's so sweet