Old Fashion (Nell Lubeck's recipe)
Candian Club Whiskey
Orange bitters
Sugar Cube
Cherry
Ice
2 parts Stave Robber Bourbon
1/2 part Monarch Old Fashioned Syrup, (available at tasting room)
6 drops of Monarch Aromatic Bitters, (available at tasting room)
Orange peel
Young and Yonder are a local distiller in Healdsburg. Josh and Sarah Opatz are making Vodka, Gin, Absinthe, and a Ryed Bourbon.
Their ryed bourbon is what Detroiters would call a Canadian Whiskey - meaning it is like Hiram Walker’s Canadian Club. When my grandparents (Lubeck) moved from Chicago to Detroit during prohibition, they purchased a summer home in Kingsville, Canada. After sampling Josh Opatz’s old fashion cocktail with just a hint of orange and cherry, I wonder if that was the Lubeck’s way of ensuring a ready supply of Canadian whiskey. My grandmother Nell Lubeck drank old fashions, a cocktail made with CC, a sugar cube, bitters, a twist of orange, maraschino cherry, and ice. On our Sunday visits, the adults would have cocktail peanuts and old fashions before dinner. My brother and I would get a similar cocktail made with ginger ale instead of whiskey.
Isn’t it funny how the smallest thing can remind you of the past?