"Anybody mind if I take off my pants?"

At the risk of appearing excessively crude I gotta say that a good Old Fashioned is kind of like taking off your trousers.  I can also tell you that, since the passing of my binge drinking youth, Old Fashioneds go down with a lot more ease and comfort.

I'm fascinated by what my friend Virginia Lee told me one day about the sudden interest in this quintessential cocktail (she writes a blog on the Wisconsinite's take on the drink).  She said, "haven't you been watching Mad Men?"  I must admit I'm a new-comer to the show.  I have catching up to do but I'm excited for the upcoming 4th season. 

Presumably, bartenders around the world rue the day Mad Men made it cool to order an Old Fashioned again.  While this subject has been covered many times and many tine tanies.  I can't help myself.

The Old Fashioned

- 2 oz of bourbon or rye whiskey (I used Maker's Mark)
- 1 oz of simple syrup
- 3 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 lemon

Glassware: a rocks glass or an old-fashioned glass

Pour 1 oz of simple syrup into the glass

Add 3 dashes of Angostura bitters. 

Add a slice of lemon rind.

Muddle the 3 ingredients together keeping in mind that you're trying to release the oils of the lemon into the sugar water and the bitters.  This combination will make kind of a syrup.  This syrup will become the additive to smooth out the rough edges of the whiskey.

Pour 2 oz of whiskey into the glass.  Stir gently approximately 20 times to ensure that the concotion has mixed and that it is chilly.

Garnish with a maraschino cherry.

Before I finish, in honor of Mad Men's upcoming season, I give you - interaction between the sexes according to Mad Men: