Romath’s Hoard

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(Durandor) A great, blood-red dragon emerges from the shadows. He steps heavily through his hoard, sending gold coins and jewels of every type cascading down. This behemoth of scales and claws and teeth brings his head down toward the Heroes of Durandor. His gravelly voice breaks the ominous silence. “Few that enter this lair survive. Make your case.”

Romath was an evil, elder red dragon that lived in a mountain range called The Crescent Ridge. The PCs went to his lair to try and make a deal with him. Spoiler: It definitely didn’t work and Thott basically told him to pound sand when Romath offered to be his new patron. Romath’s lair was down a long spiral staircase, under a tavern he controlled. In classic dragon-style, his lair was filled with glittering gold, jewels, and various trinkets that he would never do anything with but hoard. Pure, glorious excess.

Similarly, this cocktail is excessively luxe and deliciously rich. It’s an Old Fashioned made with duck fat-washed bourbon, black plum simple syrup, and bitters, which is then smoked using maple wood chips and garnished with a Luxardo cherry.

It’s incredible.

Let’s start with the duck fat-washed bourbon. Fat-washing your whiskey adds subtle body to the feel and taste. It’s kind of like the whiskey is fuller-tasting, like it has a little more substance to it.

The type of fat will also (obviously) affect the taste. You can really use any sort of fat for fat-washing. I’ve used peanut butter, bacon, duck fat, and chocolate. The duck fat is definitely the most delicate in the effect on the taste of the whiskey.

Next, we have the black plum simple syrup. This syrup is lick-the-spoon good; fragrant and fruity without being tart and sweet without being cloying.

Last, as the pièce de resistance, I smoked the cocktail. I LOVE smoked cocktails. The burning wood chip smell, the way the smoke adds another layer of taste, the immensely visual presentation of the smoke lingering and in the glass and twisting through the air; I love it all.

I recently bought a SmokeTop and I absolutely dig it. Smoking chambers are unquestionably nifty and result in a stellar cocktail, but they’re big and a bit a clunky. The SmokeTop is small and mighty. Easy to use and easy to take on travels. Highest of recommendations for those looking to start smoking cocktails.

Not to be dramatic, but Romath’s Hoard is the best Old Fashioned I’ve ever made. The plum-duck-fat-smoke combination makes this cocktail feel like a meal à la an everlasting gobstopper.

Romath’s Hoard

Ingredients: Makes one cocktail. Fat-washing recipe makes slightly less than the amount you choose to infuse.

• 2 oz Duck fat-washed bourbon
  • I used Agitator in this specific cocktail but as you can see from the pictures, I’ve also used Four Roses. I recommend using your favorite bourbon
  • For the duck fat I used Epic Traditional
• .5 oz Black plum simple syrup
• 3 dashes Angostura bitters
• Luxardo cherry for garnish

Recipe:

• For the duck-fat bourbon: I used a recipe from Hacking Whiskey. It’s a great all-around recipe book for cocktails and infusions. Below is modified to my taste:
  1. Add approximately 2 oz liquified duck fat and 750 milliliters of your favorite bourbon to a large jar or container.
     • You can also adjust the ratio depending if you want to infuse less.
  2. Leave at room temperature, shaking every so often, for 6-10 hours. I usually do around 6. I also use a large jar so I lay it on its side to increase the surface area.
  3. Place infusion in the freezer overnight.
  4. Strain the fat.
     • I scrap the frozen fat from the top and remove the large chunks and then I run the bourbon through a cheesecloth.
  5. You can also adjust the ratio depending if you want to infuse less.
• For the cocktail: Controversially, I like to do a dry shake on my Old Fashioned prior to stirring in the glass. If you want to dry shake first:
  1. Add the duck-fat bourbon, plum simple syrup, and bitters to a shaker and shake. If you like the traditional approach, jump straight to (2).
  2. Pour the bourbon, simple, and bitters into a lowball with, preferably, a large ice sphere or cube. Stir with a swizzle spoon to chill.
  3. (Optional) Smoke the cocktail. Set the SmokeTop on top of the glass, add a pinch of wood chips and torch with a brulee torch until the glass fills with smoke. Let sit for 10-20 seconds and then remove.
  4. Garnish with a Luxardo. Enjoy the sip of luxury.