This one tastes like an Old Fashioned that took a trip to Andalusia Spain and came back richer. The Camino Pilar Old Fashioned is our Spanish brandy build, made on aged Jerez brandy and a splash of sherry.
What makes a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned special
It's built on Brandy de Jerez, the aged brandy of southern Spain, all raisin and fig and warm oak from years in sherry casks. Use a good bottle like Cardenal Mendoza or Gran Duque de Alba. On its own it leans toward dessert. The packet's bitters and a half ounce of Oloroso sherry pull the Camino Pilar Old Fashioned back toward dinner, drying it out and giving it a nutty, savory edge.
The thing that makes Jerez brandy special is the solera system, the same fractional-blending method used for sherry, where younger brandy is gradually mixed with older across a stack of barrels over many years. That process is where the deep raisin, fig, and toasted-oak character comes from, and it's why even an affordable bottle tastes older than its price suggests.
How to build a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned
Chill the glass. Add 2 oz of Jerez brandy, 0.5 oz of Oloroso sherry if you're using it, and one packet of Still Branch. Stir a few seconds, add ice, stir for a full 30. Express an orange peel over the top and drop it in. The orange oil lifts the dried-fruit notes and keeps the Camino Pilar Old Fashioned from feeling heavy on the nose.
The sherry is optional but traditional, and it's the detail that makes the drink feel like it knows what it's doing. Oloroso is a dry, oxidative style of sherry, full of walnut and dried-fruit notes, and it bridges the brandy and the bitters so nothing tastes like syrup. Leave it out and you still have a lovely after-dinner drink. If sherry sounds intimidating, Lustau and Hidalgo both make excellent bottles for under $20, and you only use half an ounce at a time.
If Jerez brandy is hard to find, a good aged Armagnac or another well-aged brandy can stand in, as long as it leans rich and dried-fruit rather than light and grapey. The Oloroso is the harder ingredient to substitute, so if you can only track down one specialty bottle, make it the sherry and use whatever aged brandy you have on hand. Either way, the Camino Pilar Old Fashioned holds together as long as the base spirit is rich and aged.
When to pour a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned
Pour this one in the colder months, after a heavy meal, in a quiet room. The Camino Pilar Old Fashioned is the drink for the end of the night, when you want one more glass that tastes like it took real thought. The richness that would feel like too much in summer is exactly right in December next to a fire.
A note on the sherry in a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned
If sherry sounds like something only your grandmother drank, it's worth resetting. Sherry is fortified wine from the same Jerez region as the brandy, and it ranges from bone-dry to dessert-sweet. The one you want for a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned is Oloroso, the dry, oxidative style, full of walnut, leather, and dried fruit. It's the opposite of the sweet cream sherry people picture. A half ounce ties the brandy and the bitters together and keeps the drink from sliding into dessert, and a bottle keeps for weeks in the fridge once opened, so it isn't a single-use purchase. You'll find yourself splashing it into pan sauces and other cocktails before long.
Glassware and pace are part of the pleasure with this one. A Camino Pilar Old Fashioned tastes richest when it's cold but slow, so use a heavy rocks glass and a single large cube and give it room to open. The raisin, fig, and walnut notes climb as the drink warms a degree or two, which is the opposite of a drink you knock back. Pour it for someone who has half an hour to spend on it.
It also makes a thoughtful pour to share when someone hands you a nice bottle of Spanish brandy, which happens more than you'd think around the holidays. Rather than letting it sit unopened, build a round of these and walk your guests through what they're tasting: the solera aging, the sherry-cask influence, the nutty Oloroso. It turns a quiet after-dinner moment into a small, low-key tasting, and the packet means you can pull off a Camino Pilar Old Fashioned without any of the fuss the drink seems to imply.
It's a sommelier's kind of cocktail, the one to make when you want to show off to someone who knows wine. Anyone who appreciates sherry, port, or aged spirits will immediately clock the depth here. For food, it sings next to aged Manchego, jamón, marcona almonds, dark chocolate, dried figs and dates. A Spanish cheese-and-charcuterie board is its perfect partner, which makes the Camino Pilar Old Fashioned a brilliant pour for a tapas night. Don't over-dilute it: stir to chill and combine, but pull back a touch on the ice time, and use a single large cube. This is not a drink to rush. Serve the Camino Pilar Old Fashioned in your best heavy rocks glass if you have one, because this is a drink that rewards a little ceremony. Pour it slowly, let the orange oil settle on top, and sip it over a long half hour while the dried-fruit and walnut notes open up. It's the rare cocktail that gets more interesting as it warms, so don't rush to the bottom of the glass.
Jerez brandy, a splash of Oloroso, orange peel. A nightcap with a passport.
Leave a comment