This recipe is a twist on a clas­sic cock­tail known as The Old Pal. If you’re not famil­iar with it, you might be famil­iar with its sib­ling — the Boule­vardier — which has over­shad­owed it in pop­u­lar­i­ty for years. Both drinks are 1920’s cre­ations by Har­ry MacEl­hone — cock­tail pio­neer and founder of the infa­mous Har­ry’s New York Bar in Paris. Har­ry attrib­uted the Old Pal to a writer known as William “Spar­row” Robert­son, who called any­one he talked to his “old pal.” Turns out Spar­row Robert­son has also been described as a “cocky, antique, leg­end-crust­ed pee­wee,” so it’s no sur­prise that the Old Pal comes packed with an aggres­sive bitterness.

In the Spar­row, I toned down the bit­ter­ness by cut­ting the Cam­pari with its milder broth­er, Aper­ol. Not only does a touch of Aper­ol bring out the fruity tones in the rye, but the aper­i­tif’s man­darin orange fla­vor plays nice­ly with the choco­late and cin­na­mon notes of the mole bit­ters. Add the smoky fin­ish of Laphroaig, and you’ve got a sophis­ti­cat­ed, six-ingre­di­ent cock­tail that is sure to please.

Recipe

• 1 1/2 oz rye
• 3/4 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
• 1/2 oz Cam­pari
• 1/4 oz Aper­ol
• 4 dash­es of Bit­ter­mens Xoco­lati Mole Bitters
• Laphroaig rinse
• Gar­nish with orange twist

Add all the ingre­di­ents (except for the Laphroaig and gar­nish) to the mix­ing glass. Add ice and stir. Rinse your cock­tail glass with the Laphroaig. Express the orange oils from the peel into the cock­tail glass, and rub the rim of the cock­tail glass with the peel. Strain ingre­di­ents into your cock­tail glass. Gar­nish with an orange twist.