This original cocktail is the result of a collaboration between 18.21 Bitters, ASW Distillery and Southern Art & Bourbon Bar.
The preparation of the cocktail is a two-week process. First, they prepared the cocktail – which they called Waxing Poetic – by mixing Fiddler Bourbon, Cocchi Americano and ASW peach liqueur. Then they packed a glass percolator with peach cores, star anise and fresh verbena.
Vaughn, sales manager at 18.21 Bitters, said the goal was to imitate a fashionable and perfect Manhattan. “I like star anise, especially with stone fruits. It just gives that kind of bright, spicy note to licorice. Lemon verbena is similar to the tasting of Pebbles or Fruit Loops.”
After passing through the percolator, the cocktail is poured into Fiddler bottles filled with beeswax. Even before pouring the cocktail, the bottle is perfumed with the smoky notes of bourbon, which blend with the scent of wax.
The cocktail then soaks in beeswax for two weeks. The finished product has a honeyed and viscous texture, smooth and easily sipped. Floral and lemony notes come first on the nose, followed by a great spicy finish.
Don’t drink and drive. Enjoy responsibly.