American•indulgent

Fatty Daddy Cocktail

The David Leite cocktail recipe, made from bourbon, bacon, maple syrup, port, and Amarena cherries, is also known as The Fatty Daddy. Guess why.

Ingredients

Quantities are shown as originally provided.

1 pound bacon (diced)
12 ounces bourbon (preferably Jim Beam)
3 cups maple syrup
2 ounces bourbon (preferably Woodford Reserve)
3/4 ounce ruby port (preferably Dow's)
1/2 ounce Bacon Maple Bourbon Syrup
3 drops Amarena cherry syrup (from a jar of Amarena cherries or to taste, plus 2 Amarena cherries for garnish)
Ice
2 Amarena cherries

1
Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Carefully pour in the bourbon and cook for a minute or so, stirring and scraping the bottom of the skillet to release those marvelous porky stuck-on bits. Drizzle in the maple syrup and stir. Increase the heat to medium-high just until bubbles appear across most of the surface. Then reduce the heat to low and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and let the mixture cool for a bit. Transfer the mixture to a container, cover, and refrigerate overnight. (The wait is intolerable, yet wait you must.)
2
The next day, scrape the fat from the surface of the mixture. Pour the syrup through cheesecloth, discarding the solids—or, heh, nibbling them. Use the syrup immediately or cover and refrigerate it for up to a week.
3
Pour the bourbon, port, Bacon Maple Bourbon Syrup, and Amarena cherry syrup into a mixing glass and fill with ice. Gently stir the contents with a bar spoon. Strain the elixir into a coupe glass and garnish with 2 Amarena cherries, skewered if desired.