Campside Whiskey Old Fashioned

When I lived in the Midwest, my friends Peach, Boss, Todd and I would go camping the first week in May in upper Wisconsin. For those of you who know anything about upper Wisconsin in the Spring, you know that it's still damn cold. We liked to find lakes that were uninhabited by any other campers, which, at that time of the year was most of them.

One of the rituals we developed was having Old Fashioneds after dinner. Peach had a special recipe that really hit the spot. But it was a lot of work for a campsite. Luckily, he had his travel cocktail bar, containing almost everything needed.

The Ingredients are as follows:

• Kessler Blended Whiskey
• 7-up
• Angostura Bitters
• Maraschino cherries
• cherry juice
• sugar
• orange
• lemon slice
• cinnamon sticks

The process is as follows:

Pour a couple of ounces of 7-up into a highball glass, then add two teaspoons of sugar and two jiggers of bitters. Muddle. Then add ice to the brim of the glass. Now add 1 ounce (or to taste) of Kessler. It has to be Kessler. No other blended whiskey works as well. Believe me, I've tried.

Now stir with a cinnamon stick. Add zest of orange, slice of orange and slice of lemon. Add jigger of cherry juice. Stir again and drink.

There is nothing better than sitting in your camp chair sipping your Old Fashioned and staring at a roaring campfire on a cold, crisp Northern Wisconsin night (and listening to the Chief on the radio playing country & western songs...right guys?)