Like its namesake, the elegiac tune by Townes Van Zandt, this cocktail is a staggeringly deep number to wax wistful to while sitting around the campfire. In a play on just how much wood features in the makeup of Tennessee whiskey (maple charcoal filtering and charred oak aging), this old-fashioned finds Samir Osman doing the spirit one better by adding a maple syrup that itself features the flavors of smoked pecan wood. Despite all these like-minded elements, though, it’s all summer beauty and none of the burns when the delightful taste of peach puts a classic Southern spin on your night under the stars!

Ingredients

2oz Tennessee Whiskey

½ oz smoked maple syrup

3 dashes (not drops) of peach bitters

1 dash citric acid solution

1-2 spritzes white sage hydrosol

Stirred

Served in a Rocks or Nick and Nora glass

Instructions

1. Add the whiskey, maple syrup, bitters, and citric acid solution to a dry mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until the mixing glass feels ice-cold.
2. Strain into either a rocks glass over a large ice cube or a chilled Nick & Nora glass (without ice).
3. Spray the white sage hydrosol over the top of the drink or if you’d like to have one on hand – shake a sage leaf to awaken the aromatics, and then place it on top of the drink.

Enjoy!