BACK STORY: OLD FASHIONED, NEW ERA
At Tower Suites Bar at The Wynn Las Vegas, mixologist Andrew Pollard breathes new life into a classic concoction.
At Tower Suites Bar, mixologist Andrew Pollard breathes new life into a classic concoction. PERHAPS IT IS A YEARNING FOR DAYS GONE BY that makes a cocktail developed during the 1880s so popular today. In fact, Andrew Pollard, chief mixologist and head of beverage development at The Wynn Las Vegas, has concocted an entire menu based on the Old Fashioned, a bourbon cocktail said to have first been used by that name at the Pendennis Gentlemen’s Club in Louisville, Ky. (1881), to honor a prominent local bourbon distiller. The cocktail, comprising four main components—spirit, sugar, water and bitters—is, Pollard says, “the number-one-selling drink on menus today.” And he has rolled out an entire menu devoted to the cocktail and his own many iterations of it for Tower Suites Bar. For his new Fashioned Statement menu, Pollard uses the classic Old Fashioned recipe to prompt new takes on the favorite. For traditional imbibers, Pollard suggests the Call Me Old Fashioned, made with any spirit from the Tower Suites Bar lineup. He suggests Knob Creek or Woodford Reserve, readily available bourbons that bring great balance to the cocktail. With the Scottish Accent, Pollard goes to sherry cask-aged Glenmorangie Lasanta Scotch whisky in combination with Amaro Meletti, layering caramel and toffee with a nutty finish thanks to the addition of Lustau Manzanilla sherry and chocolate walnut bitters. Enjoy this one in your favorite smoking jacket. The ’42 Old Fashioned is prepared for the discriminating palate with high-end spirits Don Julio 1942 añejo tequila and Grand Marnier 100 with salted Demerara sugar and Angostura bitters. An amalgam of vanilla, orange and salt, the result is a complex, well-balanced libation worthy of its tariff. With a distinctly tropical twist, Pollard is able to take a cocktail that some might associate only with stuffy men’s clubs right into tiki territory. The Aloha Old Fashioned is essentially a deconstructed tiki drink, combining Bacardí Gran Reserva Diez 10-year and Smith & Cross Navy Strength rums—the former molasses-forward, the latter a little funkier— with Lustau East India Solera sherry, Fernet-branca amaro and
Giffard Caribbean pineapple liqueur as the sugar substitute. Finished with Angostura bitters, this intricate libation offers a different flavor profile with each sip due to the novel gathering of the quintet of spirits. As he begins to tip jiggers of rum over an ice sphere for the Aloha Old Fashioned—arguably his favorite cocktail from the new menu—pollard reflects on how he chose the base spirits. “To go with something that’s rich, I want something that’s going to hang on through the entire drink and be the spine while everything else is working through it.” This combination provides “the big molasses flavor you’d expect in an overly aged rum and that funky, Jamaican nutty kind of fun as well. It just punches through everything.” If you’re looking for a more alcohol-forward, traditional Old Fashioned, you should ask yourself why not Rye Not? This Whistlepig 10-year straight rye cocktail delivers chocolate with peppery undertones through the combination of Lustau Oloroso sherry, artichoke-based Cynar liqueur, Tippleman’s barrel-aged cola syrup and Angostura bitters. More bitter than some of its counterparts, this cocktail may “punch you in the face,” according to Pollard, so proceed accordingly. It’s only appropriate to finish your Old Fashioned tour with Coffee, Black, which takes advantage of innovative Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition Irish whiskey aged in stout beer barrels, combining the complex whiskey with Clément Mahina Coco coconut liqueur, cold brew-infused Demerara sugar and Angostura bitters. Coconut and coffee intermingle seamlessly in a cocktail designed to finish off your evening.