Tayēr Cedarwood Old Fashioned

An Old Fashioned is four things: spirit, sugar, bitters, ice. There is nowhere to hide, which is why bartenders use it as a proving ground and why most attempts to improve it fall flat.

Monica Berg and Alex Kratena's version, bottled at their Old Street bar Tayēr + Elementary, adds cedarwood. It is a smart choice. Cedar is dry and resinous rather than sweet, so it pushes the drink savoury instead of piling on more vanilla, which is the usual mistake.

Rich amber in the glass, copper at the edge. The nose gives whiskey warmth first, then bitters, then something woody and faintly herbal underneath. The palate is round and slow — sugar held in check by the bitters, cedar arriving in the middle and framing the whiskey rather than sitting on top of it. It finishes long and warm, and the wood note is the last thing to go.

A drink for after dinner, or for the hour when the conversation has slowed and nobody much wants to leave.

How to Serve

Chill the bottle, then pour over one large cube in a rocks glass. Express a strip of orange peel over the surface and drop it in.

Where to Drink It

Scarfes Bar at the Rosewood, for the fire and the armchairs. The American Bar at The Savoy, if you want it done with ceremony.

Food Pairings

Smoked meats and roasted mushrooms. A wedge of dark chocolate late on, if you want to see the cedar sharpen.