Oaxaca Old Fashioned

Reposado tequila and mezcal with agave nectar — Phil Ward at Death & Co. (c. 2007), the drink most credited with introducing mezcal to a global cocktail audience.

The Oaxaca Old Fashioned was created by Phil Ward at Death & Co. in New York City around 2007 and became one of the most influential individual cocktail creations of the 21st century — the drink most credited with introducing mezcal to a global cocktail audience. Ward, who was among the founding generation of Death & Co. bartenders, developed the recipe by splitting the spirit base between reposado tequila and mezcal in a two-to-one ratio, using agave nectar as the sweetener and Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters as the aromatic element, finishing with a flamed orange peel whose caramelized oils were expressed over the surface of the drink before the peel was discarded. The name honored Oaxaca — the southeastern Mexican state that is the spiritual and commercial center of mezcal production — while the Old Fashioned format provided a recognizable structure that helped drinkers previously unfamiliar with mezcal engage with the spirit through a trusted framework. The drink's commercial impact was documented in multiple industry analyses: mezcal's US import volume grew dramatically through the years following the Oaxaca Old Fashioned's spread from Death & Co.'s menu into the broader craft cocktail consciousness. Phil Ward later opened Mayahuel, a New York bar dedicated to agave spirits, in 2009, further cementing his role in the American mezcal story.