During a recent conversation with friends about cocktails, specifically the old fashioned, a quick search of the blog from my phone left me quite embarrassed.  I could not believe I have posted several variations of this classic, but never celebrated the original. Well, it is time to rectify that oversight tonight! This cocktail is considered one of the six basic drinks documented in David A. Embury’s The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks. It’s earliest reference is in an 1806 response to a letter as the definition of a ‘cocktail’ – to wit – a potent concoction of spirits, bitters, water, and sugar. That is the very definition of the classic Old Fashioned, which really explains how this tipple received its name. I…